


The Cavalry Horse - A Fanfiction Sequel to Spirit

by AsgardianHorsemanship



Series: The Cavalry Horse [1]
Category: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Genre: 5 Years Later, Bailey: Stallion of the Cimmaron, Bareback Riding (NO THAT IS NOT AN INNUENDO), Canon Character of Color, Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Capture of wild animals, Cavalry, Cavalry horses, Character Death, Cougars, Danger, Developing Relationship, Dreamworks, Exploration of Wild West Culture, F/M, Horse Racing, Horse galore, Horseback Riding, Horsemen, Horses, Implied Relationships, Kidnapping, Lakota Tribe, Late 1800s, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Little Creek is a BAMF!, Lots of pretty scenery, Minor Violence, Native Americans, Natural Horsemanship, New takes on old characters, Post-Canon, Relationship(s), Riding, Romantic Subplot, Secret Relationship, Sequel to original story, South Dakota, Spirit and Rain have a colt, Spirit is a badass, Spirit's son, Spirit/Rain aww love, The Colonel gets trigger happy, The Colonel is actually a gentleman, The Wild West, Undecided Relationship(s), Wild West, cavalry life, wild horses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-17 21:43:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 68,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2324195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsgardianHorsemanship/pseuds/AsgardianHorsemanship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 years after Spirit is freed from the Cavalry, his only son is captured by wranglers and sold to the round up. Only one woman can stop him from a cruel fate, but when the Cavalry purchase him after learning of his parentage, saving him becomes a whole lot harder. Can one woman make it in the world of men to keep him safe and help him be free?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was 1895 in South Dakota and the annual cavalry round up had begun.

I loved cavalry round ups, watching all different horses coming and going, Thoroughbreds an Quarter horses were the most seen, but the main attraction was the Wild Mustangs.

Every year wranglers would go out and catch the best Mustangs they could find and sell them to the cavalry, sometimes they took them direct to the forts and camps but mostly they were brought here, the cavalry would have their pick and the rest would be auctioned.

As I went over to see the wild horses, I could see the meat man skulking, writing down the numbers of horses he didn't expect to sell today. I made my way over to the large pen; it was filled with probably about 100 horses from all over the plains and mountains of South and North Dakota.

Suddenly something caught my eye and my stomach dropped as I saw a group of huddled up Mustangs who were sweaty and wild eyed, pressed up against the rails of the pen, they were from the wild herd I tracked in the western mountain.

I'd been tracking the herd for 5 years now, ever since I went into a bar where the soldiers drink where I'd sat on a table next to a group of such men. One who was eagerly recounting a tale to his fellow men, a story about a wild stallion, an Indian boy and their fight for freedom.


	2. The Horse Who Could Not Be Broken

As I sat down with my drink, the soldiers were laughing and joking over their beers before one was asked to tell a story, he got up and put his arms wide.

"You want to hear the story?" He grinned.

"Yes!" Came the resounding cry from the table.

"You really want to hear the story?"

"Just tell us the story Fletcher!" One piped up before the man called Fletcher could rally everyone anymore.

"Ok, gentleman, you've all heard the story, but have you heard it from someone who was there? This is the story of the Horse that could not be Broken!"

A man sitting in the shadows behind their table looked up as the soldier spoke, but didn't hold his gaze very long before returning to his drink.

"So one day, this wild horse gets brought in right, big buckskin mustang stallion the wranglers had caught, though this horse had been travelling for days he still managed to drag the four men holding him across the fort, myself included!" He held up his hands and pointed to rope burn scars on his palm. "Straight through leather gloves!"

"The Colonel took a particular interest in this stallion, there has never been a horse the Colonel couldn't break, it was too easy for him and this horse presented a challenge!"

"Tell them what happened to Murphy, Fletcher" One of the older soldiers urged.

"I'm getting there! So the Colonel instructs the Private to induct the horse straight away, sends him to the blacksmith Murphy. So this horse breaks Murphy's fingers, kicks him the backside, crushes his hand, kicks him in the face and finally almost knocks him out with a head butt! He was tied to the stocks, strapped down, head tied down, all four legs tied to each post and still manages to break free each time and stop Murphy from doing anything to him but hog his mane! So the Colonel says to break him then and there instead of take him to the stables, once he's good and broke we can induct him."

"What happened then Fletch?" One of the younger soldiers asked.

"Right, so we get him into the corral chute and get him tacked up, the rider gets thrown off in seconds! Then another, then another until everyone has been thrown off and we are all at a loss as to what to do, this stal is charging the fence line scaring the living daylights out of us! The Colonel gets it tied to the post for 3 days without food or water, a day later we catch an Indian boy raiding the supply wagon, so he gets tied to the post as well, little did we know what a mistake we were making. It gets to the third day and the Colonel decides to break him in himself, this stal tries everything to get him off, even launches himself into a full frontal roll, but the Colonel stays on, never seen anything like it in my life! The horse finally seems to give in, he's shaking, he can't breathe properly and is exhausted, so the Colonel rides him around. Suddenly he stops and grabs the reins out of the Colonel's hands; he rams the Colonel into the rails and breaks the cinch, flinging the Colonel and the saddle off. So now the Colonel is hanging onto the stallion's bridle, so the mustang rears up and flings himself backwards, throwing the Colonel in the air and over the fence as the mustang literally goes straight through the fencing! The Colonel gets up and goes to shoot this horse but something happened." He raised one eyebrow, knowing he had them all hanging off his every word, me included.

"The Indian that was tied to the post got loose and pushed the gun away from the horse as it went off, before running and grabbing around the horses neck, he hung on and the mustang takes off, breaking tie posts and releasing the cavalry horses as he goes, he manages to get out of the fort with around 10 horses!"

"What happened to him?" Came a voice from the table.

"First we thought he'd gone, but we raised an assault on the Lakota tribe as payback for the Indian getting our horses released, we tore the village apart. The Colonel had the boy who took the horse in his sight when the mustang careered into his horse and knocked him to the floor, then this horse goes charging after a mare that fell in the river and they both go over a waterfall!"

I hadn't touched my drink since I had sat down, I was so captivated by this story I just sat there listening.

"Did it die?" Someone asked.

"No, we found him about the bottom of the waterfall with the mare who'd been shot, so we captured him and the Colonel sold him to the rail road with the rest of the Indian horses. Supposedly this horse managed to free all the other horses that were hauling the steamer over the mountain, before destroying two steam engines and a whole store of dynamite that set the forest on fire!"

"I remember reading that in the paper!" One of them exclaimed.

"Yeah," Fletcher carried on, "this stallion ends up being saved by the same Indian from the fort, he'd tracked the horse down! They have to jump off a cliff into a ravine to escape the flames, the next day we're sent out to try and recover the horses and we come across the stallion and the boy. I've never seen the Colonel lost for words, so we charge them and the boy trips over as they run away, but the stallion doubles back, grabs the boy and pulls him onto his back! Boy did the Colonel get mad that this boy could ride him, he's never had this happen to him."

"We chase them into a canyon and one by one they manage to knock us soldiers off our horses until myself, the Private and the Colonel remain. We hit a ravine and the mustang goes charging up onto a plateau above us, it looks for an escape route and we try to shoot it, then it all went quiet. We wait at the pathway entrance for them to come back down when we hear hooves above us, we look up to see this horse hit the edge of the plateau and leap into the air!"

I almost dropped my drink that I'd been holding in my hands and letting get warm.

"Did it make it?!" One of the soldiers leant across the table in excitement.

"Hold on let me drink'" he batted the soldier away as he gulped his beer before continuing, "yeah, this Indians howling and shouting and we're all too stunned to move, it touched down the other side and hit the deck hard, sliding across the ground and throwing the boy off. The Private raises his gun but the Colonel stops him, he nods to the boy and leaves without waiting for us to follow, since then they have been left in peace."

"Woah, so what became of them?"

"The Indian went back to his tribe and the mustang has been spotted in the western mountains, he has the paint mare with him that the Indian rode."

"Well Sergeant, you certainly know how to tell a story." Came a voice from behind them.

Standing there was a tall man in military uniform, he had long brown hair and a moustache. Though he looked quite young he had all the commanding presence of an older man.

"C-c-Colonel." Fletcher stammered in surprise as he stood up and saluted as fast as he could, as did the rest of the table.

The Colonel ignored him. "Yes gentlemen, the stallion is spotted from time to time but the wranglers are under strict orders to leave them alone, his mare is heavily pregnant."

The Colonel dipped his head before looking at me, I hadn't realised I was staring and looked away embarrassed, I'd been so into the story I'd lost myself.

The bar fell silent as the Colonel left; it was then that I decided to see this stallion for myself.


	3. The Roundup

A week later I saddled my little black mustang gelding Jesse, loaded his saddlebags and headed out with my herding dog in search of the Mustang's herd. The stallion had been called Spirit by the locals, Spirit-Who-Could-Not-Be-Broken and his mare Rain by the native Indians and had fast become a legend to the towns' people.

I found them after a couple of weeks, a few days after crossing into the mountain ranges of South Dakota, I watched Rain foal a buckskin colt who fast became my favourite herd member, he had one blue eye, four white feet, a white blaze and a paint marking on his shoulder. I named him Bailey as he always got bailed out of trouble by his father, constantly getting tangled in things, wandering off and doing things he shouldn't be, I expected Spirit was once just the same as him. I was tolerated by the herd as long as I didn't get too close, I watched them for 5 years, learning everything I could, but on the run up to this year's roundup they all disappeared.

As I watched the four mustangs huddled in the pen, I finally knew why.

Two big 7ish year old bay twins with white stars and a 3yr old chestnut filly huddled behind a big buckskin 4yr old stallion. He looked at me with his blue eye and turned himself, his mane parting to reveal the paint marking on his shoulder.

I ran to the fencing and shouted "Bailey!" The stallions head flew up as he heard my voice.

"Excuse me miss?" Came a voice behind me, I turned around and came face to face with the Colonel, I stopped dead and stared. "Colonel James Walker m'am." He held out his hand to me.

"Cally Chase sir," I dipped my head and gave him my hand, which he took and kissed gently.

"A pleasure," he turned back to Bailey, "do you know this mustang?"

"Yes sir I do, and in a way so do you."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Continue"

"5 years ago I overheard your men talking about the buckskin stallion and the Indian boy," I paused and watched his face, it betrayed nothing, "I was so captivated by the story that I went out to see the stallion for myself, I found him and his herd and for the past 5 years have been tracking and watching them. This is the mustang stallion and the paint mare's firstborn that she was pregnant with all those years ago."

"I remember you, I was sitting on the table behind theirs on my own and you were on your own listening to the story, are you sure this is the right horse?"

"100% sir, I'd know him anywhere."

He smiled and asked. "Why Bailey?"

"Because his daddy always had to bail him out of trouble." I laughed.

He chuckled and turned back to Bailey. "He's going to be bought by the first person that see's him I'm afraid, he won't be going to auction."

"I know sir, I wish there was something I could do." I looked at the stallion desperately.

He looked me over as I turned back to him. "So what business do you have here today?"

"I'm a trainer, I come here to pick up mustangs to break and train."

"Really, how long have you been a trainer?" He raised his eyebrows in a way that made me feel like he already knew exactly what I did.

"Since I was 17 sir."

"Are you good at your job?"

"I'd like to think so sir, I've got a good reputation and a long line of clients. You see a broke mustang round these parts and it probably came from me."

He raised his eyebrow again before he took my hand and kissed it once more.

"Let me see what I can do, until we meet again Miss Chase."

I stood and watched him walking away, wondering what he would do.


	4. The Cavalry

The Colonel walked away, back to his soldiers and I stood watching Bailey and his herd, the other mustangs bustled around them and Bailey bared his teeth at any that got too close. I look on in dismay as others looked him up and down and wrote down numbers of the horses they were interested in, I'd come here to buy a little mustang mare and now I would do anything to be able to get Bailey.

He stood there watching me, not quite sure whether he should be afraid or happy to see a familiar face, I hoped he didn't blame me for this. As I watched and waited the cavalry milled around me checking out the stock and I recognised a couple of faces from the bar, it felt like an age had gone by since that night and first finding Spirit and his herd.

Soon it was nearing the end of the day and the horses would be paid for and taken away, either loaded onto the steamer for the rail road or tied to the back of the horses.

It came to the time of the roundup where the horses were captured; the wranglers went in to get the horses for the US Military. They would rope them, get them to the floor and get a halter on them and drag them out. I watched as they roped and haltered the 2 bay mustangs, the chestnut filly, 2 blacks and a dun, then they came back in, confused I watched as they advanced on Bailey before I realised what was happening. I heard someone behind me and a voice spoke.

"The US Military would like to extend you an offer Miss Chase."

I turned around to see the Colonel with a serious but kind look on his face.

"We are always in need of good breakers, would you like to come and work for us? In return you would be allowed to watch over and work with your mustang here."

I didn't know what to say, I was utterly speechless.

"I don't know what to say sir, your offer is very enticing."

"Then say yes, or better yet come and see what we have to offer you."

I looked past him to where Bailey was being haltered on the ground.

"Thank you sir, I will."

He held out his hand and we shook on it before he called his soldiers over.

"Soldiers, this woman is the top trainer in this area and will be coming to see about working for us as a breaker."

They all dipped their heads to me and uttered a "m'am" or a "welcome", I thanked them all before turning back to the Colonel.

"I really cannot thank you enough sir."

"No need, after seeing what the mustang's sire can do, I'm eager to have such a creature under our command, I hope you are as good as you say."

"So do I sir." I bowed my head out of respect.

"Come, saddle up your horse, we leave as soon as we have got the horses hitched to ours."

I nodded before going to where Jesse was tethered with a load of other horses, I picked his saddle up off the post and cinched him up, I spoke with my stable girl Annie who had joined me at the Roundup and told her what was happening and to leave the business to my brothers and herself for the time being, before walking him over to where the soldiers where standing ready to mount. We mounted up and between the twenty odd men they secured the mustangs, quarter horses and 2 thoroughbreds as four soldiers brought up the rear. The Colonel beckoned me to the head of the ride and I urged Jesse on to catch up, he rode a big bay mustang stallion with a boxed head and broad shoulders, he was much bigger than Jesse and made me feel terribly small in comparison.

I could hear Bailey and his companions kicking up a fuss behind us that the soldiers were containing remarkably well, soon they would stop fighting and follow us to the barracks.

"I hope you don't mind the rash offer I have given you Miss Chase." Said the Colonel, breaking my thoughts away from Bailey.

"No sir, it is an honour to receive such an offer and I only hope I can make it up to you and to the Military."

He smiled and looked down at Jesse.

"That's a nice looking mustang gelding, how long have you had him for?"

"10 years now sir, he was the first wild Mustang I ever broke, before that I'd only broken Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds."

"A fine horse for a lady such as yourself, tell me, is he fast?"

"Yes sir."

"Can you prove it to me?"

"How Sir?"

"Private Wood!" He called without looking behind him, a young gentleman with a shaven face came trotting up beside us.

"Your horse is a Quarter horse x Thoroughbred is it not?"

"Yes sir." He sat up straighter in the saddle.

"Come, race Miss Chase and her little Mustang here, I have heard about him winning local races, though not knowing who he belonged to before hand."

I suddenly smiled as I heard that tales of our triumphs had been heard within the Military.

"Sir, yes sir!" He saluted before drawing back and coming up next to me.

"Go." Came the single word from the Colonel.


	5. The Race

I put my leg on and shouted "Hah!" as the Private dug his spurs into his geldings side, he took off into a racing lope as Jesse leapt into gallop, my mustangs choppy strides matched the Appendix's rangy strides as we quickened up the pace, suddenly the Appendix shot forwards into the gallop they were famous for.

"Come on Jesse baby you can do it, YAH!" I shouted and pushed my reins up his neck as he exploded and flew past the Private whose eyes widened, he kicked and kicked and came up beside us as Jesse raced on, we got to a small thorn bush and I put Jesse's western skills into play as we skidded around it as if it were a barrel at a rodeo, the Appendix took a longer stride before twisting around the bush losing him valuable time.

We got almost a horse length in front before the Appendix made up ground and we came neck and neck, the Colonel pushed his horse on to get out to meet us and call the winner and I whispered to Jesse "Go baby go." He kicked up his heels and put on one last burst of speed and we flew past the Colonel with the Private right behind us, his horses neck past Jesse's flanks, we reined them in as they blew out through their nostrils and sweat dripped down their necks.

I patted Jesse thoroughly before returning to the head of the ride where I shook hands with the Private.

"I'm impressed Miss Chase, where did your mustang come from?"

"He came from right here sir, possibly from the same heard as the buckskin you met."

"The buckskins sire is rumoured to be a black, do you think they could be of any relation."

"They could well be I would of captured him around the time the buckskin was born."

The Colonel smirked as he watched Jesse with interest, Jesse perked up his ears at the Colonel before going back to watching where he walked.

"How did you get into the breaking business Miss Chase?" The Colonel asked a little while later.

"My daddy, he'd been a breaker round these parts since before I was born, William Chase his name was."

"The William Chase? He has supplied horses to us in the past." The Colonel exclaimed.

"The very same sir, he retired about 10 years ago and took me out to get Jesse as he said I was ready, a year later he died and left me to run his business."

"I'm sorry to hear that, your father was a great horseman, some say the greatest on the Western Front." He bowed his head as he spoke of my father.

"Thank you sir, he was a great man and taught me everything he knew."

"The Army will be blessed to bring such greatness into the works."

I dipped my head as my cheeks went red from his praise.

"Thank you again sir, I only hope I can keep my father proud."

"I'm sure you will Miss Chase."


	6. The Fort

It was a three day ride back to the fort in the western mountains of South Dakota, after a few hours the horses had given up fighting and were now walking solemnly behind their leaders.

We spent most of the ride in silence, the Colonel asking me occasional questions about my life and horses. I asked him a couple but he was very careful to answer and I could tell he was a very private person, the things I'd heard he had done just went to show what kind of a life he'd lived, even if he wouldn't say.

As the sun got the highest point in the sky on the third day finally we could see the fort on the horizon, you could almost hear the horses breathe a sigh of relief as well as their riders. The horse's heads picked up and they quickened their pace, Jesse looked around wondering where we were and why everyone was getting so excited,

The roundup horses started to sense the excitement and started to pull back from their captors, tossing their heads and snorting as they got dragged along, as we came up into the shadow of the fort the horses got wild eyed and nervous and stopped fighting to look. A sentry saluted the Colonel and ordered the soldiers below to open the gates, the large wooden gates swung open to reveal a heavily fortified base. Horses watched from covered over open stables where they all lived together, bunk houses lined the walls and artillery could be seen everywhere.

When I was a child I'd accompanied my father to a fort such as this, I remember being in awe of the military horses as they paraded around the base. As I looked around it now, everything was a bit less impressive than when I was a child, but it still blew me away to see such disciplined horses.

We got in and the gate was closed with a heavy thud behind me, the soldiers dismounted and I went to get off, the Colonel put his hand out to stop me and I sat back up in confusion, he rode off and mentioned to me to follow, Jesse went into a jog to keep up as the big bay strode ahead of us, we went to the back of the base to where a large stable block was standing in the shade of the wall.

"Only soldiers dismount with soldiers, as a trainer you are not ranked and therefore do not dismount with them, bring your mustang over here, this will be where he will stay for however long is needed."

The Colonel dismounted and looped his horse's reins over a tie post before he came around to my left side and as I dismounted he lowered me gently to the ground. He smiled before turning back to his horse, which soldiers had already begun to untack; he patted the muscular neck and ran his hand over the hogged mane before letting the soldiers put him away.

I looped Jesse's rope reins over the tie post and uncinched him, I felt him heave a huge sigh as I dropped the front and back cinches to the floor before putting my stirrup over the saddle horn, as soon as I'd done that the saddle was lifted off Jesse's back before I could move, the Colonel handed the saddle to a soldier who hastily took it to be put away.

"Thank you sir." I nodded respectfully as he watched me unhook Jesse's reins before leading him into the stable block, I let him go and he turned around and nudged my hand. I laughed and got a handful of oats out of my shirt pocket and he lipped them up with a grateful blow through his nostrils, I stroked his neck and kissed him on the nose before leaving the block and bolting the door.

A soldier came and took my bridle from me with a quick nod and took it over to a small building behind one of the bunks. The Colonel walked over to me and beckoned me to follow, I moved forwards and fell into step beside him.

"We are going to induct the horses now; perhaps you would like to assist Murphy in the inducting of your mustang." He said without looking at me as we came up to the stocks outside the blacksmiths building.

"Yes sir." I said quickly before hearing hoof beats beside us.

Bailey came up to the stocks dragged by 3 soldiers, he roared and stomped his hooves as they put pressure on his head to keep him on the ground, two soldiers came up behind, one with a riding crop and smacked him on the rump sternly so he flew forwards and into the stocks before he could look where he was going.

The men tied him up on both sides as Murphy came out with a pair of big steel scissors, he took one look at the Mustang and his eyes widened before he turned to one of the soldiers.

"W-why did you bring me a horse like this?" He stammered as he looked at the horse that had such resemblance to the mustang that had suffered him many injuries 5 years ago.

"Alright Murph calm down, it's not him, it's his son." One of the soldiers said with a look of total glee on his face.

Murphy's jaw dropped and he looked back at the stallion, Bailey tossed his head and snorted making Murphy jump back a step.

"Murphy has never quite gotten over what the mustang did to him." The Colonel said to me quietly, a slight smirk on his face.

"Murphy, come now, it's just a horse, no reason to worry." One of the other soldiers jibed.

The Colonel chuckled softly. "See if you can help the man."

"Yes sir!" I dipped my head before going over to Bailey.

The stallion stopped pawing and lifted his head high, puffing out his chest; he surveyed me with a look of total betrayal before flattening his ears.

"Easy lad, come on, let them get this over with and then you can rest." I held out my hand and Bailey bared his teeth at me, so I put my hand in my shirt pocket and lifted out a small handful of oats Jesse had missed, Bailey's ears flicked forwards. "Yes, you remember these don't you boy, see, come here." I held them just out of the length of his rope and he leant forwards and sniffed my hand eagerly, I put my hand under his nose and he snuffled them up like a horse half starved, quite rightly after the journey he'd had.

I put my hand under his chin and took hold of the rope halter, he went to throw his head up but the ties stopped him, he tried to back off but the ropes held and he flared his nostrils angrily.

The Colonel motioned to Murphy who took a step forwards, Bailey snorted at him and he hesitated before coming up beside him.

"You've got him?" He looked at me in defeat.

"Yes sir."

Murphy raised the scissors and placed them on his neck, Bailey tossed his head but I held him tight and Murphy made the first cut, then continued on to hog Bailey's mane as the stallion stomped and snorted in disgust.

I watched the flowing mane fall to the dusty floor with sadness, remembering how it used to fly as Bailey raced across the open plains. I kept having to say to myself it was the only way, I couldn't afford to buy him and the Military always had first pick, if the Colonels or any other battalions didn't want him, he would be sold for the highest price possible to the rodeo, at least in the Military he'd only have to withstand one session of breaking.

I held on as Bailey growled at Murphy as the last piece of mane hit the floor and Murphy went back into the blacksmith's building. He came back out after a few moments and checked to make sure I was still holding him before grabbing his front leg and lifting up his hoof, he pulled a shoe out of his chaps pocket and measured it against Bailey's sole as Bailey pranced and snorted even more as he tried to pull his leg from the mans grasp.

Murphy went back and you could hear the clash of metal as he shaped the shoe to match Bailey's hoof before coming back out and taking hold of the stallion's leg again, Bailey bared his teeth and pushed me sideways but I kept my grip on his head. Murphy held fast and got the horses leg between his own, he took the nails out and one by one banged them into Bailey's hoof as Bailey snorted and squealed in protest. One by one the shoes were put on much to Bailey's dismay as he kicked out and roared at the men all around him, I felt his eyes burn through me and felt just terrible about allowing this to happen to a horse that should be free.

Finally his tail was cut and trimmed whilst Murphy dodged his flying back legs and the brand came out, I let go of Bailey at this point and came back to the Colonel's side as the hot iron advanced onto the stallion, Bailey could smell the burning metal and tried to rear but the ropes held him down, helpless he skittered around hitting the stocks again and again, he bucked and lashed out with all four feet making awful noises, you could see him shaking and sweating as the rod got closer and closer. Two soldiers came up and pushed Bailey's side so he was wedged against the stocks on the left hand side.

Murphy came up beside him and waited until Bailey had stopped pawing before thrusting the brand onto Bailey's shoulder, Bailey screamed and tried to push against the soldiers who had him wedged against the stocks but by the time he'd overpowered them the brand had been taken off and was being taken away.

I closed my eyes as I heard the hiss of hot metal against steam and the Colonel put his hand on my shoulder as I looked away. I opened my eyes again as I heard the iron being put into cool water in the blacksmith's building and looked up at Bailey.

Bailey was panting and lathered in sweat, but at least it was all over. The soldiers untied and led him over to a tie post by a water trough and tied him tightly to it, the stallion was too distraught to try and pull away and he kicked his left front leg into the ground in discomfort before finally taking a long draught of water from the trough. I watched him as he lifted his head out of the water and flattened his ears at me and I felt my heart sink, what could I do but what was needed to keep him safe, even if it meant taking him away from everything he knew.


	7. The First Night

Once the rest of the horses were inducted and put to suitable tie posts the men (and myself) who had been to the roundup were allowed to rest for the afternoon, I took my time to walk around the fort taking in every little detail I could. I noted how many bunkhouses there were, where the food hall was, how many horses they had and what breeds and how many sentries where posted.

After a little while I came and rested upon a water trough outside the corral and watched one of the men ride a just broken appendix, the military saddle was very different to the western saddles I was used to. They were almost like a combination of an English saddle and a Western one, the bridle was more fitted than a western bridle, also more closely resembling an English bridle. As I watched the soldier ride I realised that their way of riding was more or less English, something I wasn't very accustomed too, I'd ridden in it before well enough but it just wasn't as homely as western riding.

Dinner came and went, the food being less than average in taste, but, edible at least. Soon the night was beginning to set in and I wondered where my sleeping quarters would be, I wandered over to see Jesse who greeted me with a loud neigh that made the other horses fling their heads in the air to see what the commotion was about. I went into his stall and stroked him in the dim light, dreaming away about the days to come, I was in my own little world when I heard someone cough outside the stall.

"How long have you been there?" I asked the Colonel, embarrassed.

"A while, I've never seen a relationship between horse and rider such as yours, it intrigues me."

"All my horses are my friends and partners; I find it makes for a valuable team if you get the friendship just right."

The Colonel smirked and motioned for me to come with him, so I gave Jesse one last scratch behind the ears before I left him for the night.

"You'll be staying in the guest quarters next to mine, your saddlebags are already in there waiting for you."

"Thank you sir." I followed him over to the two sets of buildings set slightly in front of the Colonel's stalls.

"We always have a guest quarter or two prepared for incoming patrols, messengers, scouts or high ranking officers coming to check on the fort, they are situated so you can see the whole fort from them. I hope you enjoy staying in one of them, I'm right next door if you should need anything and there is always soldiers on duty should a problem arise, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you again sir, I cannot thank you for your kindness these past few days."

"Think nothing of it, you are going to be a valuable worker here and your insight will help the military greatly. It is the least we can do in return."

I dipped my head respectfully and bid the Colonel goodnight; he kissed my hand and left into the waiting dark. I stood outside my bunk for a while and watched the fort, full of life in the daytime; it was eerily quiet and slightly unnerving at night. Occasionally you heard a coyote or a stag in the surrounding forests. It was hauntingly beautiful and I had to shake myself out of it and go into my quarters.

Candles were already lit in my quarters and everything was ready for me, I took in every detail. There was an average sized bed with military sheets on it, a wash basin with a bowl full of clean water on a stool next to it and soap. A bedside drawer and stool were next to the bed and had my saddlebags spread over them, I emptied everything out into it's correct place, closed the shutters to the windows and got undressed. I felt dirty and tired, but I still forced myself to have a quick wash before I slept in clean fresh sheets, then after taking one last look around, I dropped into bed and was asleep before I hit the pillow.


	8. First Light

At 0530 hours the bugle was sounded across the fort, I awoke with a start and looked around drearily in that first second haze when you wake up, wondering where I was and what was going on. As the memories of the past few days came flooding back I stood up and opened a shutter slightly, it was dawn and still slightly dark, though the sun could be seen on the horizon. I rubbed my eyes and sighed, this was going to take some getting used to, at home I was up at 7am to do all the horses.

I washed and got dressed, then made my bed and tidied everything before making sure my clothing was immaculate as the second bugle call was sounded to get the soldiers out for the reveille or role call. I left my quarters and came out into the dim light, looking around all the soldiers were filing into lines in front of the First Lieutenant. The Colonel spotted me and motioned me to come over, I came to stand next to him and he explained the routine to me as the soldiers were inspected one by one. He then told me to stay where I was as he went and re-inspected all soldiers once the Lieutenant had finished.

"Very good soldiers." The Colonel nodded and allowed the trumpeter to sound the bugle for breakfast, we all walked in silence to the mess hall to the right of the gate to be served what was apparently food here.

After breakfast the bugle sounded once more for the 'Fatigue Call' which was where duties for the morning were handed out, that was followed by the 'Sick Call' to sort out any soldiers off duty due to illness. Once everyone was accounted for and all had stood to attention the soldiers started their daily duties, first was to muck out all horses then feed and water them, I started towards Jesse's stall and the Colonel stopped me.

"Soldiers are already on their way to do Sampson, seeing as he and Jesse share the same stall you won't need to do him anymore."

I fidgeted slightly, feeling at a loss as to what I could contribute.

The Colonel continued, sensing my unease. "Could you go and see if you can calm down your mustang? Supposedly he's been wreaking havoc all morning for the sentries."

I looked up and smiled before briskly walking off to him, throwing a 'thank you sir' over my shoulder as I went.

Bailey was in a large open stall with the rest of the horses from the roundup, in one half of the large L shaped stable block at the back of the fort on the left hand side, the other half was full of already trained horses, the soldiers were standing outside with pitchforks waiting for him to calm down so they could go in, as one advanced to pin Bailey to a corner I stopped him.

"Let me."

I went into the stall and as I shut the latch I leant over and grabbed a handful of oats from the morning feed bucket outside. I walked past the roundup horses and they parted in confusion. Bailey stood at the end of the stalls and snorted, his eyes wild and his head high in the air, he spun around a few times and stomped, his head swinging this way and that. He was slightly sweaty around his eyes and neck and his tail swished nervously. He grunted as I approached him and pawed at the ground in anxiety.

"Be careful miss he'll kick yah!" One of the soldiers shouted, which only made Bailey worse. He backed up and hit the wall of the stall and reared in fright, lashing out in terror. Someone grabbed the soldier and told him to shut up as Bailey came down on the floor with an almighty thump.

His legs were shaking as he watched me with his brown eye; I stopped and looked into his eyes, trying to convey that I wouldn't hurt him. He picked his head up and nickered slightly, wanting to trust me, I held out my hand to him and he sniffed it tentatively. He snuffled up the oats and licked his lips, his eyes brightening up before he nudged me gently, I brushed my hand against the soft part of his muzzle and he snorted and pulled away before placing his muzzle in my hand. I stroked his face gently and watched him as he calmed down, blowing through his nostrils as he un-tensed.

The soldiers stood and stared and I motioned them to come in, they hesitated before coming and shutting themselves in with us. I stood with Bailey as he fretted over the advancing soldiers, they mucked out one half of the stall out onto the grounds outside the stalls, then I moved the horses round into the fresh bedding so they could do the other half. I kept my hand on Bailey's shoulder and let the men work, Bailey slowly relaxed slightly and watched the soldiers with a worried interest.

The Colonel came along as they were finishing laying down the fresh bedding; he stood and raised an eyebrow as he saw my hand on Bailey and him resting on me.

As I left the stall all the soldiers stood and watched with amazement. Bailey followed me and nudged me in the back, I turned around and stroked him between the eyes before I shut the latch and he whickered gently as he watched me leave.

"Only people with something special could make a wild horse act like a puppy Miss Chase." The Colonel said with undisguised awe, he had his hands behind his back and was still watching Bailey whilst speaking to me.

"Thank you sir, I don't know what you could call it, I just do what comes naturally."

He smiled and turned to me. "It's time to see how natural you are, are you ready to start breaking?"

I was a little taken aback, but I steeled myself and nodded.

"Let's go and get your horse first and we will saddle him up in military tack, once you get used to it you can ride one of the army horses, then we'll give you something a little harder."

I followed to Colonel to Sampson and Jesse's stall and we brought him out and hitched him to the tie post, the soldiers came and brought out a couple of saddles to try on Jesse, the first was too loose but the second fitted perfectly.

I mounted and sat down on the hard cold seat of the military saddle, the cantle and pommel were stiff and the seat was nothing like the padded seat of a western saddle. It had tapaderos on that felt like they were made out of metal and the stirrups were heavy, I'd never ridden in anything like it, there was a hole in the tree of the saddle and I could see the saddle cloth through it, obviously to make the saddle lighter and freer moving.

I walked Jesse to the corral and was let in, I pushed my legs back, feeling them drift into a western position and sat up straight in the saddle. I asked Jesse on with a click and he went into a slow jog, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to stay seated and was quite like the Western style of riding on all accounts, just with an English posture. I made a kiss sound and Jesse went smoothly into a lope, though not as comfortable as usual due to him also adjusting to such a saddle. I pushed him on and did figures of 8's and lead changes before pushing him into a gallop, then a rein back and we slid to edge of the arena before wheeling round and doing the same the other way. I pulled him up and walked him back to the gate of the corral where I dismounted, the Colonel whistled and out trotted Sampson fully tacked up.

"Off you go then." He grinned slightly as he saw my face.

A crowd had appeared now as the early morning routines had finished, meaning it was around 9:30am. As soon as they saw me mount Sampson everyone went silent, I guessed this must be a big thing to be allowed to ride the Colonel's horse.

I took him into the arena and the power underneath me was incredible, he had long confident strides and his huge neck and box head rose up in front of me like a steam train, this was nothing like Jesse. I asked him on and he calmly went into a steady jog, then I asked for a trot and the difference was instant, big bouncy strides and elevated paces. I kissed and he went into a huge pronounced lope with large strides that covered the arena quickly, then onto a canter and I had to set my legs to stop from bouncing as he moved. I got him to halt and rein back and do lead changes, then pressed for a gallop. The extension and speed in such a confined space was intense and I couldn't help but smile. As I steadied him up and halted to go over to the gate the Colonel asked.

"Are you ready to try a bronco?"

Excited, I nodded and went to walk over to the gate. The Colonel raised his hand.

"No need, bring Sampson into the chute."

Confused I took Sampson over to the chute and was shut in, memories of many rodeos flooded my mind and I wondered what was going on.

The Colonel counted down then motioned for the chute to be opened, nothing happened, I looked over at the Colonel and he winked, I tightened my grip on Sampson and he whistled a low whistle.

The reins were snatched from my hand and I threw myself back in the saddle as he exploded from the chute into a full on bronc that a rodeo horse would be proud of, he span round fly bucking again and again, twisting this way and that. I pushed my feet out in the stirrups and lifted one arm into the air behind me to balance and allowed my body to go with his movements, he leapt this way and that, doing sudden stops and rearing in the air before leaping into a movement much like the Spanish would do on their war horses. I stuck fast and let Sampson throw me about, he stopped dead and threw his head into the air but I was so stuck to my saddle that I barely came forwards so he didn't hit me. After about 1 minute the Colonel uttered another whistle and Sampson leapt forwards before bucking with all his might, he came forward onto his front legs and did a handstand with his hind legs in the air, I leant right back so my head was touching his rump and pushed down in my stirrups until we were vertical and I was practically standing up in my stirrups. We seemed to hang in the air for a moment before I felt him drop, I grabbed a tuft of his hogged mane and let his neck pull me back into the correct position and the Colonel whistled again. I braced myself but Sampson stopped dead, panting, his flanks heaving and covered in sweat, he stood as if nothing had happened.

I sat up and brushed the hair from my face and patted Sampson's neck. "Good boy."

The soldiers clapped one by one and I looked up to see the Colonel staring intently at me, he clicked and Sampson pulled the reins from my hand and came trotting over to him. He patted the horse's broad neck roughly and looked back to me.

"Sampson is trained to throw riders on command, if we were ever ambushed and pulled from our horses, any Indian who gets on him will be immediately thrown from the saddle and Sampson will come back to me, not many riders can sit to such a horse." I nodded and he took his glove off, he raised his hand to me and I shook it firmly.

"Welcome aboard." He said with a smile and let me out of the gate.


	9. The Corral

As the sun got higher in the sky, the drill call sounded, which meant that the infantry and artillery practiced their disciplined work as a unit until 11:00 am and then performed a drill ride around the parade ground in front of the corral on the horses. I sat on the rails of the corral fencing and watched the men work, enjoying the complex patterns of the drill ride and the perfectly disciplined movements of the horses, before long the bugle sounded again, I was told when I asked it was the stable call which came twice a day at 11:30am and 4:30pm, which meant meticulous grooming and checking of all the horses and riding any not in the drill. I was asked to work in two dark bay horses that both had different problems and was happy to oblige and get more recognition from the soldiers and of course, the Colonel himself.

The first was a thoroughbred gelding, around 16hh but built of pure muscle. He was heavy on my hands and chomped non stop on the bit, so I worked him in figures of eights doing lots of different transitions with him to make him softer on my hands and work through the back, before asking for some harder movements. He responded by backing into my leg and coming off my hands, which was at least a slight improvement but now I had to get him off my leg.

All the while I could feel myself being watched by the Colonel and the other soldiers; I tried my best to keep my concentration as the heat of the morning grew. Once I finished the first horse he was taken to be cooled down and I was handed the second horse, he was smaller than the first at maybe 15.2hh but his presence was much more demanding. He was a stallion and had a fire in his eyes that belonged on the racetrack. I mounted up and immediately he jittered about and wouldn't go in a straight line, he had only just been broken and was obviously displeased at having to carry a human. He jogged and tossed his head, frothing at the mouth within a few minutes of entering the corral, I sat up and made him trot around and around the arena as the heat built up in the midday sun.

We trotted constantly until my legs were aching and my hands felt like they were made of stone, but as the time wore on he became calmer and calmer until eventually I could loosen my reins off, by the end of the session I was trotting him around on the end of the buckle and the soldiers had gathered in their break to watch. Once I was satisfied he had no more energy left, I dropped my reins and patted his neck and asked him to keep trotting. We got to the far corner and I sat deep and asked for a lope and before you knew it he was cantering around the ring with no reins, I had to urge him on to keep him going.

I stopped him using my seat whilst I rested my hands on my legs and dismounted, patting his dripping neck. No time for cooling off the correct way when there were a dozen other horses and riders waiting.

I got many 'well done' and 'very good' comments from passing soldiers as I left the corral and handed the horse to one who was waiting to take him and rub him down. Once the soldier had walked away the Colonel came over.

"You've impressed most all my soldiers Miss Chase, that's a hard thing to do around here."

I blushed at his praise. "Thank you sir, I'm not doing anything fancy."

"I think that's the exact reason why they are so impressed, because you aren't doing anything, the horses just seem to respond to you."

I looked down at my feet feeling myself get embarrassed. "Thank you sir."

"If I may ask," he paused and waited until I looked up before continuing, "I'd like you to give my soldiers a demonstration on horse training with your little black mustang. Show them how you work with horses, my soldiers are good men and fine riders, but not many would ride a horse without holding the reins, none when they had never ridden the horse before."

"Of course sir," I brightened up, "when would you like me to do it?"

He looked up at the sky and spoke. "Tomorrow, I'll inform the soldiers at lunch today, which is now."

I looked up at the sky and was surprised; time had flown so quickly whilst working those horses and watching the men work others. I thanked him and we walked to the dining hall together as the bugle sounded to let the soldiers know that they had an hour break.

Time flew quickly by, I ate lunch at the Colonel's table with him and the Lieutenant, whom I learnt was called Henry, then worked three more army horses whilst the soldiers were on the afternoon Fatigue Call, as the day was drawing to a close I spent some time with Bailey, waiting for him to allow me to stroke him and seeing what his boundaries where with me, before long dinner was being served.

After dinner and evening role call, which I was told would take place every evening 5 minutes before sundown. I went and brought Jesse out in the cool evening air; I took him to the corral and let him off. He rejoiced, rearing and bucking across the open space before coming to me in the middle of the arena. I sat down and he rested his head on my shoulder before sinking down onto his knees and finally laying down with me. I patted his thick neck and lay back into his chest, pulling his head into my lap. I lay there for what seemed forever, stroking his black face and watching the stars. My head was still reeling from these last few days and I hadn't yet had a chance to really just sit down and think about it.

As I lay there with Jesse his ears flicked up, though he didn't move. I sat up to see the Colonel approaching with his hands behind his back as always. He stopped in front of me and smiled. He came down onto on knee and asked if he may stroke Jesse, I nodded and he took his glove off before stroking the length of Jesse's face as he dozed in my lap.

"I know I have already said it once, but I have never seen anything like this before in all my years with horses."

"You've been on a different side of it to me, the strict classical side of horsemanship, no lesser than my side, but very different when compared with each other."

He nodded without taking his eyes off Jesse. "I'm sure this is the horse that sired that mustang, every movement, every look the same. I'll never forget those determined and wild eyes, your horse shares them."

"It would be incredible if it was, to think that the sire of such a horse would allow this to be done to him."

"With the right touch, any horse will allow it; they just have to want it I guess. The horses in the military don't get a choice in that matter, they have to obey or they are auctioned or even, a crime which I was almost guilty of myself, shot. Because of the fear that at any one time a war could break out or we are needed, we don't have the time to work with the horses apart from our own personal horses and even that is limited. They have to be broken and trained up fast, ready to serve their country, most horses never even see the battlefield and stay to fight on campaigns or other missions."

"It's a shame to see it that way, but none of the horses are unhappy with how they are treated, they accept it just as you accept you have to do it this way."

He looked up at me and smiled slightly. "I look forward to your demonstration tomorrow Miss Chase, until then, I bid you good night, last call is at 9pm every evening, but do not worry about tonight, I have already seen you, lights out is at 10pm." He kissed my hand and stroked Jesse one last time before getting up and walking away into the darkness. I watched him go and puzzled, there was much more to that man than he let on. He wasn't always the iron spurred rider who could break any horse (well, any horse but one) people talked about in stories.

I lay there a little while longer as Jesse drooled onto my legs, which made me laugh to myself. Could this horse really have been the sire of the horse that could not be broken?

My eyes started to feel heavy eventually as the days work took its toll on me, I got up and Jesse rolled onto his feet, he followed me and I picked his halter up off the fence, but didn't bother to put it on him. We walked side by side to his stall where Sampson was sleeping with his head between his knees. He pricked his ears as Jesse entered by didn't look up or open his eyes, I stroked his shoulder and ran my hand through his hogged mane as I had seen the Colonel do and he heaved a big sigh. I then turned to Jesse and kissed him on the nose and hugged him, tangling my hands in his mane and closing my eyes. I breathed in and felt the whole world disappear whilst we were together, I pulled myself away and went to my quarters.

The Colonel's bunk was dark, so was everyone else's, apart from the sentries I must be the only one awake. I opened my door quietly and lit two candles, keeping the light dim as I washed and dressed for bed. As I climbed in I wrapped my hand in my blanket just as I did Jesse's mane and fell into an uncomfortable sleep in the heat.


	10. Sampson

I awoke early to a noise outside, I got up and looked out the shutters quietly to see a horse and man walking towards the arena, from the looks of the long hair it was the Colonel and Sampson. Intrigued, I got dressed and got a blanket to walk out into the chilly early morning air. I stood outside my door and watched as he led Sampson into the corral, I walked forwards slowly, careful not to be seen.

He let Sampson go and Sampson trotted off to sniff the hoof prints Jesse had left last night, the Colonel whistled quietly and Sampson's head came up before he trotted back over to him. The Colonel straightened his leather halter before asking him to move away, he then asked him on into a trot and Sampson trotted in circles around him without a lunge line, after a few minutes the Colonel clicked and Sampson went into a canter. I looked up and even the sentries were watching quietly.

With one whistle, Sampson came to a dead stop from a canter and then with another he backed up. With a click he turned to face the Colonel straight, the Colonel waved his fingers in a circular motion and Sampson turned around to face to other way before trotting off to the end of the arena. The Colonel waited until Sampson had turned back to face him again and then he motioned at Sampson to come, Sampson took off into a canter and covered half the arena in a few strides before coming to a halt in front of the Colonel. He walked over to the fence and took the saddle he had obviously put out beforehand off of it and placed it onto Sampson's back.

He cinched him up before swinging into the saddle without putting a bridle on, he had a rope in his hand and looped it around his neck and held it like reins before asking Sampson to walk on. Before long they were trotting around the arena, his horse's head tucked proudly in as if he were wearing a bridle. He asked for a lope and loped steadily around the ring before doing figures of 8's and serpentines, Sampson obeyed all commands without question and even changed his leads when the Colonel touched his sides at certain points. As the dusky light got slightly brighter the Colonel stood him up in the middle of the arena.

He stroked Sampson on each side of his neck before dismounting and walking to the fence, Sampson followed obediently and stood up waiting to be untacked. Once the saddle was off and the Colonel had tied a rope to Sampson's halter he opened the gate gently and walked Sampson out, he looked up as he closed it and saw me watching under my blanket.

"So now it is you watching me." He said gently.

"Sorry sir, I wondered what was going on and came out to see and couldn't help but stay and watch." I looked away feeling guilty that I had watched him without his knowledge.

"Don't worry, I don't mind. Though I'd be much obliged if you didn't speak about it to anyone, no one but this regiment know I do this and they never speak a word. If people thought I wasn't the hard assed Colonel that had led many strikes they'd take advantage of it."

"Of course sir." I dipped my head respectfully.

"It is one of the reasons I take such a great interest in yourself and your work. Though classically trained and taught that fear and respect is how to train a horse, I still believe it doesn't always have to be so. I'm just, not quite there yet."

He continued to walk and I dropped into step behind him.

"You know sir, you are a lot different to how I expected you to be after all the stories I have heard about you."

"I'm a very different man when not on the battle field; people do not see what goes on behind closed doors." He sighed.

"I'm glad you're different sir," he gave me a look of surprise and watched me walk as I continued, "to be honest I was frightened of coming here, the stories about the fort and yourself intimidated me. I'm from a small town and deal with small town people; the closest I got to such high class and large operations was accompanying my father to drop horses at the forts. I didn't know what to expect but you and your regiment are so welcoming and kind that I don't feel so outcast here."

His look of surprise changed to a smile and he stopped before putting his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad you feel that way, the military is as you said, an intimidating place and I wondered if you'd settle in. I'm happy you have and look forward to the coming months." I looked up and returned his gentle smile before we continued to walk as he took his hand from my shoulder.

As we reached the stalls it was first light and soon the soldiers would be awake, I tried to stifle a yawn but to no avail, the late night and early morning were not good things combined. I put my hand over my mouth and the Colonel looked me up and down.

"Are you tired?" He asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine just not used to it." I stammered.

"Go to sleep Miss Chase, you are not used to these surroundings and I know you didn't sleep well last night."

"It's almost time to wake up anyways; I'll be fine, honest." I said drearily.

"Now Miss Chase, don't let pride keep you up, you are tired and a tired rider means ill trained horses, you have only been here a couple of days and you need to adjust. I will have you woken up at 0800 hours for breakfast, I shall have them save you something."

"Thank you sir." I nodded to him before patting Sampson and walking away.

"Oh and Miss Chase," the Colonel continued as I walked away, I look back over as he spoke, "don't worry about it." He smiled in the dim light and I smiled back before trudging to my quarters, yawning as I went.


	11. Jesse

I awoke to the sound of knocking on my door.

"Yes?"

"Miss Chase, food has been saved for you in the mess hall." Came the muffled voice of a soldier.

"Thank you, I'll be right out!" I said as I jumped out of bed, I stretched up and shook my head, my hair ruffled and wild. I washed and got dressed, taking care that I looked impeccable even though I had missed inspections this morning.

I felt so much better for catching up on my sleep, I was glad that I took the Colonel's advice. I stepped outside into the early morning sunshine and saw the Colonel standing there waiting for me.

"Good morning Miss Chase, did you sleep well?"

"Very much so, thank you for your advice, I needed it."

"I'm glad, enjoy your breakfast."

He walked away with his hands behind his back and I turned round to walk to the mess hall; I ate breakfast quietly before the bugle sounded. I cleared up then walked outside and looked around, I saw him listening to the Lieutenant carry out the sick call. I waited for them to be finished before approaching.

"Are you ready to do your display soon?" He asked as I came up beside him.

"Yes sir, I look forward to it." I grinned as I thought of what I was going to do.

"Fantastic, I'll let you get ready whilst the soldiers do their routines and we shall do the display before lunch after recall from the drills."

"Thank you sir." I left the dining hall and went to see Jesse.

As I approached his stall he whickered and flicked his ears forwards, Sampson's too. I gave Jesse a hug and patted Sampson before bringing Jesse to the tie post. I groomed him all over, getting out as much dirt as I could with a metal scraper before plaiting up his mane and tail for later. Once he was done I left him at the tie post so he could get out of the stall and went to see the Mustangs.

Bailey was pacing his stall, he threw his head up as I approached and the other mustangs backed away.

"Hey boy, how're ya'll doing in this heat?" I tried to keep my voice as soft and inviting as possible as I reached the gate.

I walked in and Bailey started to shake, though he wasn't as scared as before. I reached in my pocket and pulled out some oats, I offered my hand to him and waited. I closed my eyes and listened, hearing him sniff the air close to me and shifting his weight; I heard the straw bedding crackle under the horses' hooves and the mustangs that were hiding behind Bailey move around him.

I heard him take a step forward, swishing his tail against the wall of his stall. Another step and I could feel his warm breath on my hand, his whiskers brushed my fingers and he tentatively took a nibble on them before placing his muzzle in my palm and eating the oats. I stroked his chin with my fingers as he ate and he snorted but didn't pull away, so I then stroked round his nose, then I stroked up his face and stepped forwards. I felt him hesitate but he stayed still and let me continue. I stroked past his cheek and started down his neck, softly brushing his fur down to his chest, his muscles twitched under the alien feel of a human hand but he didn't step back, so I continued up his shoulder and placed my hand on his wither, as I opened my eyes Bailey looked straight at me.

I smiled at him and with my other hand stroked his face, marvelling at his ice blue eye. Whilst I was stroking him the bugle sounded, it was time for my display. I smiled to myself and left Bailey's stall, throwing some oats on the ground for him and the other horses. I looked back to see them snuffling them up and headed to where Jesse was on the tie post.

A soldier came over to me as I reached Jesse.

"What do you need for your display m'am."

"Oh, yes thank you, can I have my western saddle and bridle put on the fence by the gate to the corral please."

"Yes m'am." He dipped his head and went to the tack room.

I led Jesse out to the corral and was greeted by a huge crowd of soldiers all leaning on the fence or standing up, some where sitting on the rails. I tried not to feel intimidated and thought of it like every other time I'd performed at a rodeo or display, but this was something else entirely. At 27 most of the men were my age or under and the higher ranks were all older, some of them had probably been breaking horses whilst I was still a child.

We walked through the open gates and everyone went quiet, I took a deep breath, picked up a riding whip and started.

"As some of you may know," I looked at the Colonel as I spoke as he was probably one of the only people who actually knew, "my father was William Chase, Trainer, supplier of Military horses and Champion Bronc rider." Everyone looked impressed as I continued, trying to look at everyone.

"Before my father died, he took me out to get a mustang to train. Jesse here was captured around the time the Buckskin Stallion was born and being one of the only black horses seen in theses ranges, the Colonel pointed out he may well be the sire of that horse."

Some soldiers whooped and the Colonel smiled.

"When my father died I was left in charge of his training business and took it over, so far I'm the number one trainer in these parts and if you go into town and see a mustang, I probably broke it." I couldn't help but smile as I said those words. "I practice different types of horsemanship, mixing traditional riding, Haute École from Spain and more natural ways." The soldiers looked intrigued.

"Today, I will show you what I can do and what this type of horsemanship can do for you and the US Military."

I finished my sentence and looked around, holding Jesse tight. As I looked over at the Colonel he nodded.

"Begin." Was the only word he said.

I took Jesse's halter off and Jesse took off across the arena, bucking and rearing around the whole corral.

"Jesse, come!" Jesse stopped immediately and came trotting over with his head held high.

I watched the soldiers' unimpressed faces and carried on.

I stood at Jesse's shoulder and turned to face the same way; I took my whip and tapped the front of his left front leg. Jesse lifted his leg up high in the air and pointed it out, I walked forwards and tapped again, Jesse then lifted his other leg and did the same movement and together we walked doing the Spanish walk I had learnt from working with classical riders from Spain.  
I then tapped the whip quicker and Jesse went into a slow trot, lifting his feet high off the ground in a move called 'passage', I asked him to go faster and he started to extend in his trot, his gait becoming powerful and hard to keep up with, I moved myself away from him and stood in the middle of the arena as he danced around me. I then asked him to stop and come to me; we took steps towards each other and halted a few feet away from each other. I put one hand behind my back and one on my stomach and bowed low to him; Jesse sunk down on one knee and put his head low to the ground in an imitation of me.

I stood back up and held my hand up, asking Jesse to stay still; I walked the whole way around him and then asked him to stand up. Once he was square I ran backwards and he loped towards me with a high gaited slow movement, I then lifted my whip high in the air and he bounced before lifting himself into a vertical rear, he struck out at the sky before coming back down. Now the soldiers were watching with increasing interest and leaning forwards onto the fence, I half smiled and continued.

I tapped the ground twice before lifting my hands into the air and Jesse pushed himself into a type of rear called a 'levade' where he hung in the air, I walked up to him and rested my hand on his hoof and it seemed like everyone was staring at me. I backed away and asked him to come down before running off, Jesse bounded after me with his head tucked in like one of the army horses, as we stopped I shouted 'Hup!' at him and he bounced once, then twice, then reared and leapt into the air, kicking his legs out behind him and landing with a thump as he pulled off a perfectly performed 'capriole' or 'airs above ground'. All the soldiers burst into applause before being silenced by the Colonel so I could continue.

I tapped his hooves and Jesse sank down to the ground and lay down, I stood over him and pulled him up so I was almost sitting on his stomach, I held his hooves in my hands as Jesse lay completely still underneath me. I rolled him over onto his other side and allowed him to roll onto his stomach once more, all underneath me. I got off and pushed his neck so he lay flat on the floor and stroked the length of his body before he sat up in a normal position. I then clicked at him and leapt onto his back as he jumped up and stood square. Again the soldiers clapped before being silenced.

I held his mane gently in my hand before asking him to walk on, then I asked for a jog with a click of my tongue, we jogged around the arena before I asked him into a lope. As we loped around the arena the soldiers were watching with baited breath, I got round a corner and asked him to gallop down the centre of the arena. As we pounded across the dusty floor I leant back and pushed my feet out and he went into a sliding stop that must have gone about 6feet, I then asked for a rollback and we did another sliding stop at the other end of the arena. I asked for another roll back and we slid to a stop in the centre of the arena and as soon as he stopped I asked him to rear, he flung himself into the air and I threw one arm out like a rodeo cowboy as he struck the air and lifted one hind leg off the ground. As he came down I patted his sweaty neck before gripping his mane tight, I clicked twice and flicked him with the whip and he bounced once, then twice, then reared up and leapt into the air, kicking his back legs out and performing a bareback capriole.

The soldiers exploded with applause and I scratched Jesse thoroughly before patting him, he snorted and shook his head and I flicked his legs with the whip, he went down onto his knees and then lay down and I put my feet down and lifted myself off of him, as I stepped off of him he rolled in the dirt trying to get rid of all the sweat and everyone laughed. I got him up and walked him out of the arena without his halter, as I walked out the gate I saw the soldier who had gotten my saddle for me.

"Thank you for getting it, I was planning on using it but things sort of ran themselves."

"No problems m'am." He nodded to me and I grabbed the saddle, bridle and halter and lay it on Jesse's back then walked him to the tie post outside his stall.

Another soldier came and took the tack from me, then gave me my halter before walking off to put it in the tack room and I tied him up. As I went into the stall to get some straw to rub him down with, Sampson neighed a greeting over the wall and I looked up to see the Colonel coming over. I came out and greeted him before turning to rub Jesse down.

"If you hadn't already impressed my soldiers Miss Chase, you have now; they cannot stop talking about it."

I smiled and replied. "I'm glad, at the start I don't think many were really watching and I was quite nervous."

"I could hear it in your voice, you did very well in front of a crowd of hardened military men, especially being a woman in a place where men do everything and look up to other men."

"It's a tough job, we can't let the men have all the fun!" I laughed.

He chuckled with me and patted Jesse's neck.

"I'm very impressed too, I'd love to learn more about this."

"Thank you sir, I'd be happy to help." My smile grew wider.

"Maybe you can tell me more over dinner?" The Colonel raised one eyebrow at me and gave me a charming smile.


	12. A New Task

"Dinner sir?" I tried to hide my surprise and embarrassment.

"Yes, tonight in my quarters, I hope it is not too rash of me, but I find one cannot have a decent conversation with soldiers mulling around you." He smiled once more and I was again caught off guard.

"Of course sir, I look forward to it." I smiled back and dipped my head slightly, feeling my cheeks flush red.

I heard a soft chuckle before he patted Jesse once again and walked away, I stood there for a second, watching after him, not quite knowing what to make of all this.

After lunch, I was called down to the corral for some breaking exercises., the little chestnut mustang that had accompanied Bailey was dragged out from her pen, kicking up a huge fuss as Bailey called comfort to her from over the wall.

She squealed and lurched about as she was brought into the chute, her eyes wide and her nostrils flared, within moments, the soldiers had wrestled her into it. It was so small a horse could not do anything but go up, but soldiers stood on the rungs of the fence and kept her down as they saddled her up. Putting the bit in was another matter, the soldiers couldn't afford to have their tack broken, any breaks they had had to be repaired by their blacksmith, who also acted as a leathersmith. Supplies took a long time to reach us here so if a horse is going crazy it will be tied down to save any damage.

They instead grabbed her by the ears and pulled her head up as another soldier reached through the bars and grabbed one of her front legs, holding it tight into her chest so she couldn't move. Yet another soldier reached in and grabbed her jaw, forcing his thumb into the indent in her gums where the bit sits, pushing her mouth open, as soon as she opened it, some more soldiers rammed the bit into her mouth and pulled the bridle straps tight before she could even try to object.

It wasn't the nicest way, but I had to admire the strict, harsh but not cruel and quick methods they used to save time as the threat of battle was ever imminent. The filly tossed her head in upset and kicked out as the soldiers released her; she spat at the ground as the taste of metal hit her tongue again and again and drove her into a frenzy. Before she had time to think, a soldier landed on her back and the chute opened. She rammed herself into the gate as it swung open, almost losing her footing and scraping one knee along the floor.

I winced as I watched her tongue loll out of the side of her mouth as she scrambled up and loosed an almighty buck, the soldier yanked on her mouth as she did and she squealed again, rearing and bucking with all her might. Once he had found his seat he let go of the reins with his crop hand and hit her on the flanks after each buck, letting her know that every time she did she would be punished, she tossed her head again and again before standing up and pawing at the ground in anguish, her breathing becoming laboured although she had only been out for a few minutes.

The soldier urged her on with wicked spurs and she dived head first into a bronco fit, he laughed at her as she tried her best to dislodge him but she was getting weaker by the second. They chose this time of day for breaking so the horses got tired out in the heat quicker to save killing them through exhaustion in an attempt to break them. Once she hit the ground from an impressive fly buck she went up, but at the same time she hit the soldier in the face with her head, dazed the soldier fell back in the saddle and pulled her on top of him. She flipped over with a squeal and kicked out her legs from underneath her in a ditch attempt to stay upright. She crashed down on top of him and didn't get up again.

Four soldiers ran into the corral from different sides, grabbing the filly's legs and rolling her off of the soldier who coughed up blood before passing out. The filly scrabbled about in the dirt trying to get up but the soldiers pinned her down whilst others came in and carried the unconscious man out, she kicked out and you could see something was wrong. I ran into the corral before anyone could stop me and as I got closer I could see blood on her hind leg. Panic rose up in me and I ordered the men to sit on her, a split second of shocked faces before they realised the danger and set about following my orders. They sat and lay across her and I asked for rope, someone came up behind me and pressed it into my hand, I didn't even thank them as I bound her front legs together then connected them to her head, pulling it tight into her chest to stop her using her head as a weight to swing herself up.

Once she was bound I had a couple of soldiers get off her and secure her free back leg so she couldn't hurt me. I ran my hand through the blood until I heard a muted squeal as I found the issue. Relief poured through me as I found a half broken spur embedded in her stifle, I shouted for some sort of padding/cloth to stem the blood then once I had it, yanked the spur from her leg and tossed it aside. Pushing the cloth into her wound I shouted over my shoulder.

"It's not broken! She is fine!" The soldiers cheered, though whether it was out of compassion or not wanting to lose a commodity to the army I didn't know.

The blood stopped very easily and the wound was deep, but not damaging. She barely limped as we got her up, she would be sore, but nothing else.

As we pulled the subdued and tired filly to the gate the Colonel and Corporal came over to me.

They opened the gate and the Colonel spoke.

"The Corporal and many other of my men have asked that the mustangs we got from the roundup be left to your care Miss Chase, it would mean you would oversee everything that is done to them, be up all night with them if you need to be and your duty would be only to them. Any spare time you have will be very limited; do you think this is a fair thing to ask?"

Though he spoke with all the force of a military man among his peers, his eyes stayed soft as the realization of what he was asking dawned upon me.

"Yes sir!" I stood up straighter and had to push the words out of my mouth before they became a jumbled mess.

"Good, I expect them to be broken in without hesitation, though this filly may be left until you deem her ready to work, we cannot afford horses without legs in this army." He smiled ever so slightly and put his hand on my shoulder.

"I leave them to you now; I hope I have not asked too much. We don't often take mares here for obvious reasons but the wranglers insisted we take her for half the price so we did."

"No sir, thank you sir!" I dipped my head and bit back the urge to drop the mare and fling my arms around him in joy.

He stepped back and let us lead the filly to a tie post under the ramparts on her own own, she would need to be left to herself for a couple of days at the least. Being in with the others could risk further injury to her or them if they accidentally touched her wound and she lashed out.

I had her tied up tight for 24 hours so she did not lie down and let her leg stiffen and then went to the other mustangs. The twins had come out of their shells dramatically in the past few days, as had Bailey but they were making better progress. I knew what I had to do but was at a loss to say it aloud.

I motioned for a soldier to come over and asked him to gather some men. The twins had to be gelded and put in with the other army horses, only high ranking army officials got to keep their mounts entire. A horse whose mind isn't on the job at hand is a dangerous one.


	13. Work

As I helped lead the twins to the stocks you could feel the tense energy around them, I felt like I could cut the air with a knife. They knew something was going on and as a soldier came out of the blacksmiths area with Murphy behind him they stiffened. We had the slightly stockier of the two led around the back to a tie post, and then tied the one left to the stocks.

Once he was secured, outside the actual stocks so we could move about him freely, I distracted his head as the soldiers bound his legs, once ready I released his head from the tie post and we pulled him to the ground. Fear swept over him and he started to panic, I kept my weight pushed down on his head as did the other soldiers on various parts of his body. Like the filly earlier, I tied his head to his front legs and waited, keeping my gaze over towards the corral where the Colonel was speaking with a younger member of the army. I heard the stallion squeal as he felt the Murphy's hands upon him and he bumped me about on top of him, I held fast and didn't look as his whole body rocked and surged when the knife cut into him, within seconds it was done and the wound cauterised with a red hot blade. It was over, but the loss of trust was great.

His wound would weep for at least a week and once stitched as they were now doing, would heal quickly. He would be very sore, but in reality, only his pride would receive lasting damage. We just had to keep an eye on it for any infection, in which case the stitches would have to be opened up and the wound drained regularly. It wasn't a pleasant job, but a necessary one when there were mares in the ranks.

The larger of the twins was a bit more difficult, part of his manhood had developed under the skin so removing it would be harder, I winced as he rocked underneath me and screamed but yet again, Murphy was quick and efficient and caused as little pain as possible. Both the now gelded horses could still reproduce for up to 2 weeks after so were put back into the stallions/new arrivals stall next to the mares and geldings, they would still have urges for up to a month but would be able to move freely within 4 days.

Now Bailey was in with the other horses from the round up but no members of his herd and I found him pacing his stall, making deep ruts in his bedding. I came in and decided it was time to work with him; normally working with a wild horse should take months, but in the army it should take weeks if that. I asked a couple of soldiers to fetch him and bring him to the corral, I could have sat there and worked on haltering him, but he needed to understand no one was here to hurt him.

I listened to the angry roars and threats as the soldiers cornered him and caught him; they survived with one being kicked in the leg and one with a bitten hand. I kept my back to him the whole time, even when they brought him out and he nudged me for oats. I walked off and, confused, he pulled the soldiers after me. When we reached the corral I told them to let him off but leave his halter on.

I walked to the middle of the corral and Bailey trotted off, shying and spooking and acting like he was a baby again. He tossed his magnificent head and flexed his bunched up muscles, revelling in being outside. He kicked up his heels and spun and leaped into the air before noticing me standing with my back to him.

I had a long section of rope in my hands rolled up like a lasso and he eyed me warily, snorting and pawing the ground every few steps. He came up behind me and pulled his head up, pretending to be brave and strong. He snaked his head round to see my eyes and I promptly turned away, he threw his head back and snorted in confusion. Again he tried, again I turned away.

He tried a new tactic, he kicked up his heels right by my head and whinnied before shooting off bucking and farting like a crazed horse before wheeling back to me and sliding to a halt. I turned around, uninterested. Now he was getting upset. He leaped into the air before kicking and bucking and making a full lap of the school, he shied into me before taking off again and rearing, dashing the sky with his shod hooves. He tried everything to make me look and I kept ignoring him.

I waited until he seemed like he could bear it no longer, then chased him away from me. Bailey bucked and spat in surprise and bounded away before coming back, again I drove him on. Now soldiers on their breaks had come along to see what was going on and I urged them to stay back from the fence line. I kept him going until sweat lathered his dusky coat, regularly changing his direction by stepping in front of his path; I was waiting for the telltale signs of submission.

After a while he started to slow, his breathing laboured, but still he would not submit. Too proud to accept a leader, Bailey just kept going; I'd keep going as long as he did until he submitted to me.

Finally, as if by magic, Bailey dropped his head, the first sign of submission. Then, his inner ear flicked onto me and stayed there, then he put his head down again and kept it down as he ran. Lastly he started to lick his lips and chew, accepting me as leader. I stopped chasing him with the rope immediately and turned my back to him. I now had to wait for him to advance onto me.

I heard no hooves & turned slightly to check Bailey from the corner of my eye, he was standing there panting like a dog.

 _Of course it wouldn't work first time_ , I thought to myself with a smirk before driving him on again.

Again I waited for him to submit, then stopped and turned away. On my third attempt I heard hoof beats behind me and had to suppress a smile. I felt his hot breath on my neck before being nudged in the back; I turned around and placed my hand out before his face. He eagerly pressed into it and I stroked between his eyes and over them, a sign of trust because they cannot see those parts of their body so do not know what you are doing with your hands. If you can stroke your hands over their eyes, you can generally touch any part of their bodies

Without hesitating, with one hand I gave him some oats and with the other proceeded to stroke up his neck and shoulders, before moving onto his withers and back. He flinched and shook but stood fast as I stroke across his quarters and around his rump. I didn't go past his barrel at any point as those were his places and to invade his privacy would ruin any work I had done with him so far. I stepped lightly around him and came back to his head where, without looking at him, I stroked across his nose and walked off.

Bailey eagerly followed me and I started to jog, he kept pace, trotting behind me regularly tossing his head just to make sure people knew HE was really in charge. Then I started to run, Bailey plunged into a gallop and kicked up his heels before sliding up behind me and cantering on, he came up beside me and I laughed and ran faster as Bailey plunged, whirled and leapt beside me, then I skidded to a stop and ran the other way as Bailey careered off in excitement. Realising I'd changed course he did a rollback a cow horse would be proud of and charged after me. I ran a bit more before fatigue hit me and I had to catch my breath. As I stopped and braced my hands on my knees Bailey skittered around me, blowing long through his nostrils in joy and acceptance. I straightened up and patted his neck, he went to back away then decided against it and I rubbed and patted his neck thoroughly. Tomorrow I would put him in the stocks and use a stick to touch his whole body, but for now, we both needed a break.


	14. Home Life

It had been a long day and I felt utterly exhausted, but the daunting prospect of dinner with the Colonel kept me wide awake as I sat down in Jesse's stall and apologised for not doing much with him. Soon the bugle would sound for dinner so I left Jesse and went to clean myself up in my bunk. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't do formal or dinners, I did jeans and a t-shirt eating bread and cheese out in the barn with my friends. Even when my parents were alive dinner was something we did in our smelliest clothes straight in from the horses and we joked and threw food and had fun. I had an older and younger brother, both who like me broke horses and we never stopped causing trouble together.

Daddy said I was more like a son than a daughter, always covered in muck and pranking young Willy and my older brother Alan.

 _I wish you were here now Daddy, you'd know if I was doing right by the horses, and myself._ I steeled myself and pushed away such thoughts; I was a grown woman and knew I was doing right. Sometimes life asks you to leave everything behind for something greater, he'd always taught me that and always made me feel like I should be doing more than I was. Mama was happy for me to take over the business with my brothers, but Daddy always wanted me to travel the world and learn more about them, if he hadn't of died he wanted to take me to England and Spain where the best horsemen in the world trained.

I got my clean clothes out and lay them on the bed, jeans and a t-shirt it was, I was never one for following rules. As I got changed the light was starting to fade and the bugle sounded, seconds later a knock came on my door. I pulled my shirt together and hastily did up the buttons as I called 'Yes?'

"The Colonel requests you dine with him tonight, when you are ready dinner will be in his quarters."

I called back a thank you without knowing if they were still there, I smoothed down my collar on the chequered shirt and rolled down my sleeves, buttoning the cuffs. Even as the light faded it was stifling in the bunk and I walked outside and stood there for a moment, appreciating the cool breeze. Soldiers milled about me filing into the dining hall and I walked round my bunk to the Colonels.

I knocked on the door 3 times and waited as the door opened, the Colonel stood back and let me in and I let my eyes wander over his quarters. Everything was immaculate and books filled all the spaces on cabinets and stools, that was why his light was always last to go out at night.

"Good evening Miss Chase." I turned to face the Colonel and he took my hand and kissed it. It always felt strange, back home I was treated as 'one of the boys', the only time I was treated different was by new clients or new people in town, they all extended the same courtesy to me as the Colonel did, otherwise, it was a hug, kiss on the cheek or a whack on the shoulder.

I dipped my head and replied. "Good evening sir."

"Please Miss Chase, out of hours call me James."

"Of course, James." I said the word slowly, testing it out like when a child first learns their daddy's name.

He smiled and led me over to a table in the centre of the room, two plates were laid out.

"Still the same food, but at least we can enjoy something different to drink." He kept his smile as my eyes rested upon a half full bottle of wine.

"One of the perks of being high ranking, we can indulge in certain things the others can't, except for special occasions."

"That's mighty kind of you sir, the water here does get a bit dull." I smiled back and let myself laugh a bit.

He laughed too and motioned me to sit, I sat down and he poured me a small glass of wine, then one for himself and sat down opposite me. As we started to eat he asked me.

"So, Miss Chase, tell me more about your life at home and with the Mustangs."

I wanted to tell him to call me Cally, but I wondered if he ever would being so disciplined.

"Well sir, I started riding since before I can remember, I used to sit on my daddy's lap on his horses and we'd go out into the hills, when I was about 7 I started staying on with him on trails and helping him to herd cattle. He'd do odd jobs like that in between breaking but he never had the heart for anything but horses, it's thanks to him that I feel the very same way." The Colonel stared at me intently, taking in every word; it humbled me for a second before I could continue.

"When I was 9, he let me start riding the rodeo ponies that were used to train cowboys to bronc. By the time I was 12 I was helping to break horses for him and riding them for people, when he thought I was ready he let me in that for my 16th birthday he was gonna take me to get a mustang and off we set, me, my daddy and my older brother Alan all went out into the mountain ranges together. We were out there for 2 weeks tracking the herd with our cattle dogs. Finally when the herd were unawares, we set on them and drove them towards Alan who steered them round back to us, as they came flying at us Daddy spun me around and we ran through the herd till we got to the big black stallion I liked so much. Daddy said he was the old lead stallion's colt and set after him for me, roping him onto his big roan crossbred mare, she looked like a cart horse and thoroughbred all mixed into one, she was always used for roping because nothing could pull her about she was so strong. Dandy we called her because she was mighty dandy at everything she did."

"Daddy kept Dandy going slower and slower so that we ran with the herd until they outstripped us, Alan had already got his very same mustang from that herd 2 years ago on his birthday and he had mighty trouble holding her but soon Jesse was caught. We took him home and I started working him then and there, he was only 2 or 3 when I got him so I spent a whole year working him from the ground."

"You didn't break him at 2 like most people do?" He seemed surprised.

"No sir, I mean James, Daddy says their too young at 2 to work right, when we get normal horses in, we get on them and get up to a canter then we turn them away in a pasture till they're 3 and old enough to work."

He looked at me and waited before replying. "I understand your father's thinking, we here don't take anything under 3 because of the hard work required, but I'd never given it a thought before."

"Not many people do sir, it's just the way it is done out here." I paused for a second then continued my story at the Colonel's nod. "Then my daddy died, I was only 17 and me and my brothers decided to keep the business going. Daddy wanted me to travel but I couldn't leave without knowing Mama and my brothers were provided for. Daddy always said he'd take me to England and Spain where the best trainers in the world were, he wanted to get me a Spanish horse to learn on. I always said one day I'd leave home but I never found the time, everything just sorta took its course until your offer."

"How did your father die? If you don't mind me asking."

"Heart attack, Mama always said the horses would kill him, Daddy always said they'd never dare, guess he was right."

I smiled and the Colonel chuckled slightly. "So what about your home life?" He asked.

"We are always a very close family, always laughing and joking. My brothers are the biggest pair of fools alive but they're gentle and kind with the animals, we'd always find a stray calf or an injured pup out in the hay barn with them on cold nights. That was along with the assortment I picked up along the way." I let myself laugh as I remembered all the times my mother had tried to make me get rid of the strays.

"When Daddy died, Mama got quiet but never let anyone see her down, she kept us together and that's why I could never leave, without us she wouldn't have lasted so long. She only died a year ago, Willy lives with my head stable girl Annie and Alan is married and has a daughter so I kept the house and all the stables and barns and land. We had well over a thousand acres but we had to sell some in rough times. Now I have 50 acres and don't want or need any more. I turn my young horses out into the mountains for winter and go and round them up again in the spring."

"So both your brothers are happy, what about you, do you live in that house by yourself?"

"Yes sir, never seem to have time for that sort of thing when there are horses waiting to be loved just as much."

He smirked under his moustache and I got the feeling he knew the feeling, if not for horses but for work. But, still.

"What about you James?"

He looked almost taken aback as if he wasn't expecting a question, but answered it as if it was.

"Well, I don't rightly recall the meaning of spare time and spend all my days with a load of young men shouting orders. Never could settle down, my father always said I had no heart for anything but the military."

I wanted to feel sad for him but he flashed me a dazzling smile and poured me some more wine.

"Don't pay no mind Miss Chase, I don't. I accept my job and my duty and that is my love. If I can make sure the townsfolk can love and feed their wives and family, that's all I need to know to get through each day."

I smiled at his honesty, here was a man who sacrificed everything for the good of his country, it was awe inspiring.

"You said you spent 5 years tracking the Mustang herd? How'd you manage to stay away from home for so long?"

"I didn't, I'd spend the summer out with the Indian tribes or in the wilderness and in the winters I'd go home, though a few times I'd head back early to watch the horses in the snow, I don't think I could think of anything more beautiful."

I saw him stiffen when I mentioned I'd stayed with the Indians, but it passed and I wondered if I had imagined it.

I hadn't. "You stayed with them?" He couldn't quite seem to understand.

"That's right, I came across their tribe one day, a scout on horseback saw me and ran back to fetch reinforcements. I stopped Jesse and waited for them to return in the hopes they'd realise I wasn't a threat, when they saw Jesse they all started squabbling amongst themselves and finally one put a rope over Jesse's neck and led me back to their camp. I was mighty scared but they didn't pay me no harm. They kept touching Jesse and saying things in their language, their chief spoke ours and said Jesse was 'The Dark One' and that to ride him meant I was special and like them, they asked me to stay and watch the herd with them."

He sat there and watched me even more intensely, like I'd just told him I could fly. It was unnerving.

"The showed me their life and their horses, they called Spirit 'Sunka Tanka' or Great Spirit Horse and said he was a creature sent by their gods to protect the wild horses. They taught me their language in exchange for me teaching them mine. They were not the same people who you attacked all those years ago, they were a different tribe who had taken over watching the herd in thanks for what the stallion had done."

"That's incredible." Was all he could say.


	15. Something Fleeting

It was my turn now to watch the Colonel, he who believed the native people to be nothing more than savages, sitting opposite the one thing that proved him wrong.

When he didn't speak, I continued.

"After living with the Indians for a few months, one day I was watching the herd from the crest of a hill when a group of young men approached. They were all Indian and they rode up into the herd like they'd been there their whole lives, the horses didn't even flinch. When the paint mare came running over, baby belly bouncing to greet the man on the middle horse I realised who it was."

The Colonel's eyes dazed and I could almost see his memories of fighting with the young Indian boy who saved the Mustang's life.

"Did he visit the herd often?" His voice was barely a whisper, he didn't want to want to know.

"No sir, I only ever saw him once, though when I wasn't there I can't say. The tribe I was with called him Little Creek, among more spiritual names and 'protector of the horses'. He came into the village that night with two other men and spoke with the Chief; I'm guessing he wanted to know how the horses were. He saw Jesse and me and came over, he spoke my language and asked me many questions about my horse and I, he was a very kind man. After that, Rain foaled Bailey and after staying longer to watch his first snow I left. Each time I went out to the mountains I'd stay with them for a length of time then go my own way to track the herd. Then one day the herd vanished, I couldn't find hide nor hair of them except where they'd been. I knew something was wrong so I came back to the roundup. There I found Bailey, and you."

"It seems to me Miss Chase, that you are not the small town girl you believe yourself to be. The things you have done and seen are the envy of most men in my squadron."

"Honestly I'm nothing special, I truly am just a small town girl out in the big wide world."

"No, Miss Chase, I understand you feel that way, but the years of doing your duty to your family and townsfolk have lead you to believe you are nothing special. You are, you command the horses the way a Native American does, you can speak to them and you have already surpassed every trainer I have met in over 20 years in the military, you've lived among the Indians without fear and you've lived among the world of men for longer. You are indeed something special, you Miss Chase are a wonder. The history books are full of strong women, children's tales even more so, but never did I think I'd meet one in my lifetime, especially under such circumstances."

This time I couldn't hide my flushed cheeks by looking down at my feet, I tried to look away but James took my hand.

"I sleep very little Miss Chase, a man who has been through war relieves every moment in his dreams, instead I spend most of my time reading, whether it be tales of bravery or the military, or real life stories of the wilderness, but recently I haven't been able to focus on my books. Not since you arrived."

I couldn't look away now, his dark eyes stared at me and I felt my cheeks flush even more though I tried to stop them. As I sat there in silence looking at him, a shrill whinny broke through the night air.

"I think your mustang is jealous, Miss Chase."

Then I was laughing, so was he and we just kept on laughing, my hand in his across the table as Bailey's neighs pierced through repeatedly.

When all had quietened down, James let go of my hand and stood up.

"Though I am enjoying your company Miss Chase, we have spoken well into the night and tomorrow will be arduous even to a well rested soldier."

I stood up and thanked him for a wonderful evening as he walked me out into the moonlight, the sentries ignored us as we bid each other goodnight, as I went to turn away James put his hand on my arm.

"I'm taking a group of soldiers in two days time on a scout of the area, we have had a supply wagon pillaged by something other than animals and we believe there is a small enemy group in the area. It is not going to be long, or dangerous for we will leave once we find evidence to support our theories and go back out with full force to reprimand them. If you wish to learn more about where you live, I'd like you to join us."

I looked him straight in the eyes as I spoke, watching the moonlight dance across his face.

"I'd love too."


	16. Bonding with Bailey

Morning routines came and went without issue, I was up early even though I had gotten back to my quarters late and felt ready for the day.

As I walked towards the food hall for breakfast James came up next to me.

"Good morning Miss Chase, I trust you slept well after last night?"

"Yes sir, that I did thank you, yourself?"

"Never well, but at least I slept." He mused whilst looking towards the dark morning sky.

We walked into the hall and sat down in silence, the lumpy gruel like food was never tasty, but it filled me up like no eggs and bread could ever do. We got a long time at breakfast but it seemed to fly by and before long we were at the Fatigue Call and sent out to do our particular duties. As we were leaving I bid good day to the Colonel and the Lieutenant and went to see Bailey.

I came over to see him and he bounced at the edge of his stall like an excited puppy, I came inside holding a halter and he sniffed me all over before nudging me for his much loved oats. He still flinched slightly at each touch and shied from the halter, but he let me do it without a fuss. I led him out and checked that the stocks were not being used before tying him up in them. Bailey tensed at the thought of the stocks but lots of reassurance relaxed him.

It was funny to think that almost a month ago this colt was as wild and free as the eagle and I was a trainer in a small town. It never ceased to amaze me how the world worked wonders on people and animals lives within such short times. Though it amazed me, it also saddened me to know that Bailey would never again know such things, I wanted with all my might to just accidentally let him go when the gates were opened for a patrol or supply wagon to enter, but I didn't even know if he would leave me anymore. I wished there was another way with all of my heart.

I left Bailey in the stocks to fetch a long riding whip and a short crop from the tack room, I came over to Bailey and held them up in his view, he snorted and stamped, worried by my approach with instruments of pain. I let him sniff them and eye them with distaste then rubbed his nose with the short crop. He flew back and squealed and I waited patiently, never letting the crop leave his body until he understood that it was not here to hurt him.

After a few minutes I could run the crop all over his body except his legs and stomach, that was what the long whip was for.

I twitched the long whip all over his body, standing away from him but always in his view, I flicked it gently higher and higher across his back and rump and got a few small stomps from him but he seemed calm and curious rather than frightened. I came back to his head and ran it along his chest and shoulders before reaching down his left leg.

Bailey unleashed a stream of horse 'profanities' at me and held his leg so high up in the air he had to hop to balance himself, each time I touched him he kicked himself in the stomach before striking out in front of him to show his upset. I kept the whip on him and ignored all his protests, bared teeth and glares until he gave up and realised I wasn't actually doing anything. I proceeded to do the same with the right leg as he struck the ground like a mare in season and I had to laugh at him.

Once he had quieted down, I took the short crop and did the same, a short flurry of protest this time before calming down and relaxing. Slowly I slid my hand up the crop until my fingers rested over the edge of the leather end, I let my fingers brush ever so lightly across him and he twitched underneath me, flattening his ears but staying still. I kept going all over his leg before taking the crop away. My fingers felt the horny growth on the underside of his fetlock that should have been covered with feather, now clipped down and sprouting tufts where they had regrown.

I did the same on the other side and before long could run my hand along his front legs and stomach. His back legs would be an issue, those were their most valuable weapons and most delicate part of them. I stood back and touched him, more squeals, this time some bucks thrown in and some harsh kicks. I kept going and going until the minutes seemed to pass into hours until finally I could stroke his back legs and the underside of his rump.

Now that that was over, picking up his feet was next on the agenda. I got a short lasso from the tack room and came back, re-running my hands along his legs to keep him thinking about it, each time I touched his pastern he flicked his leg up unconsciously, I did it twice before slipping the lasso rope over his hoof and onto his fetlock, securing it by pulling it tight before he noticed. Half hearted rears left him as he was kept down by the stocks and ties and I waited, once he was quiet I pulled on the rope, his leg flew up into the air and I leant back on the rope, holding it up, waiting for him to stop leaning against the pressure. Each time he gave way I released the pressure instantly and waited to do it again so he learnt that when he gives in, all stress will be eliminated.

I kept going until he picked it up and held it without bother before shortening the length between myself and his leg, slowly I started touching his held up leg and pulling on it, letting him feel me holding it up by my hand. I replaced it with the rope and my hand still on it, so though the rope was doing the asking, my hand was there. I picked it up, then put it down and then started to loosen my hold on the rope. What felt like hours of work had only been about an hour before I was picking up both his front feet. Soldiers walked by and offered their compliments on my work, ignoring the flattened ears from Bailey they received when they approached.

Once I had finished his front feet, I left his backs, horses should always be allowed to have a part of them private after each session so they don't feel overwhelmed, only when they are ready should you be able to touch each part of them like it was nothing.

I left him again and came back with a saddle cloth, he snorted but didn't back away and I asked him to sniff it before touching him with it, he shook under my hand but stayed still as I rubbed his face and neck with it, I kept going until it was on his back and started to unfold it onto him. Once it lay on him as it should I left it there and walked back a few steps. He pulled his head back to eye it and tugged on the rope wanting to lean back and touch it but the rope held fast and he gave up.

I then headed off in the same direction, towards the tack and feed shed. I came back with a bag of alfalfa mix. The threaded material bag was the perfect way to introduce horses to weight on their backs, it was light, the alfalfa moved inside it but didn't make a noise like grain and the bag itself being material didn't rustle like the paper sacks that held grain and bran.

I let him sniff it, but was careful not to let him tear a chunk out of it when he recognised the smell. The horses weren't fed much here in case they were needed; instead, nose bags were given to a certain number at a time so we still had enough horses free to ride in case trouble arose. But unbroken ones were fed daily to get them to the correct weight and help overall wellbeing and Bailey found comfort in the smell that was being rubbed around him.

I asked a passing soldier if he could help if he wasn't busy and he obliged. I asked him to stand on the other side of Bailey's back across the stocks from me, once, hesitantly; he had given Bailey a handful of oats as a peace offering. I rubbed the bag along Bailey's back then passed it over him into the arms of the soldier so Bailey felt the weight without the stress of holding it. He gave a small buck and I got the soldier to just keep passing it back and forth, ignoring the stallion's small protests. Once he settled down I left the bag there, the soldier keeping one hand on it in case we needed to pull it off him quickly.

Bailey moved underneath the bag and skittered but we held fast as his back legs trembled and shook. His breathing got heavier and I knew he felt trapped, in the wild for a predator to be on your back usually led to your death and any weight other than their friends playing with them is terrifying for a horse to comprehend. We stayed still as Bailey swayed and trembled more and after about 5 minutes, I pulled the bag off and waited for him to look at me, then replaced it.

After a few more goes he stopped skittering and resorted to just shaking under the bag, I kept my voice gentle and soothed his heavy breathing with my free hand. I left the bag on him and asked the soldier to back off a step, but stay close enough to grab the bag in an emergency. I backed off as well and let Bailey hold the bag without our steadying hands. He swayed slightly but didn't worry or fret, he kept his brown eye fixed on me on his right side and waited. After about 10 minutes I took the bag off of him and thanked the soldier for his help.  
I put everything back where I got it and waited for the corral to be free and took Bailey out there, free lunging him before the sun rose too high in the sky. The call sounded for us to get ready for lunch and I put Bailey away and rubbed him down and left him to ponder today's work. Tomorrow I was going to saddle him.


	17. The Saddle

The day passed unceremoniously into night and I'd had enough time to work Jesse in his military saddle before supper. I flumped into my bed wearily and dreamed of riding Bailey through open fields chasing wild rabbits.

The morning wake up call broke my dreams like the shattering of glass and I groaned as I sat up to a still dark world. Breakfast and routines passed drearily but I kept awake with the knowledge that I was to saddle Bailey today.

I brought him out the same as before and proceeded to do exactly the same with, I worked with his feet, watching as a couple of times he kicked out before settling down, easier than he did yesterday, then I worked with the saddle cloth. Once the cloth was on I brought out the saddle, I let him sniff it all over and rubbed it along his back, placing it on and off as I did the bag of alfalfa the day before. Once it was on and he had stopped trembling I started to caress the area where the cinch would go, pushing the fur the incorrect way and scratching it much to Bailey's delight, distracting him as I rubbed the cinch around him and under his stomach with the pretence of giving him a good scratch.

Before he could realise what was going on I jacked up the cinch so he couldn't throw the saddle underneath him in panic. It almost earned me a chunk of my arm as Bailey bit me but it was done. I kept scratching the area around his girth whilst he kicked about to help stop the horrible pinching of his skin and did it up hole by hole until it was tight enough to not be dislodged easily. I let the stirrups hang down and let him faff about in the stocks and throw himself around, once he had stopped fighting and sweat lathered his thick neck I led him out of the stocks towards the corral. He launched himself out of them and ran around bucking, betrayal written across his face as he looked at me uncertainly, almost like he wanted to like me, but I kept giving him reason not to.

He made every step prominent and over exaggerated and kicked out left and right, bunny hopping every few feet and spitting at passers by. We got to the gate and I let him loose, keeping his halter on. He veered away from me to the centre of the corral and stopped, at a loss as to what to do, every time he moved this horrible wooden thing hurt his back.

Once the gate was secured I chased him and he sidled around me unwilling to move any faster whilst this horrible thing weighed him down. I kept urging him until finally I took a bit of rope and smacked him on the quarters, rage crossed his face and he exploded across the arena. He leapt and spun and roared with all his might trying to shake the saddle off his back, he rammed into the fence posts and leant round and bit it repeatedly but still it would not let go. I kept chasing him until he no longer tried to get it off and stood in the far corner of the corral heaving.

Once I was quite sure he had given up, he was dripping with sweat and refused to come out from his corner, I went to fetch the bag of alfalfa I'd used yesterday. I enlisted the help of two soldiers and went back to the corral; I went in alone and took him to the stocks where the soldiers and feed were waiting. I tied him up and had one hold his head (after giving him oats of course) and the other help me to hold the bag onto his saddle until he gave up his feeble attempts to dislodge it. Then I took the rope I had used earlier and lashed the bag across his saddle with the soldiers help until it was completely secure.

Then I let him out of the stocks and again made my way to the corral, he spooked and shied at the creature on his back that wouldn't let go but the soldiers kept ushering him towards the gate before he could object. Once there I let him go and smacked him across the quarters, but this time stayed outside, letting him sort himself out without my coaxing.

After about 10 minutes he stood precariously in his corner sighing resignedly. I came over to him and he bared his teeth at me and I pushed his muzzle away, telling him not to be silly. I led him about on a rope and trotted him around with the bag of feed clumping on his back like a rider. Soon he would be ready to ride.

Once Bailey was put away I put the twins out in the corral for 10 minutes each to let them stretch their stiff and sore behinds, then put them in the stocks after their session to clean their sores. The smaller of the two, whom I called Danny, had a fresh weeping wound and it was draining well. But Harry, the larger brother's gash was slightly inflamed. I rubbed it down with a bucket of cold water whilst two men held his back legs apart and he feebly attempted to stop me. He was possibly running a slight fever so I had the men bathe him in the water, tonight he would be put out in the corral to help him stay cool and walk around to try to keep the wound draining normally.

Once the boys were done I brought the filly out, her back left was stiff and painful but she was no worse for wear, in a day or two I would start her under the same training as Bailey. Her leg was easy to clean and though a bit pussy there was no worry about her, I had checked her yesterday after lunch and she had been quite chipper. She hasn't seemed to have taken the incident personally, though another rider may be a different matter.

I watched the day pass with the schooling of the military horses, every other month the horses were schooled out of the fort, they were worked in unison around the outside of the fort or out in front of the gates for a second time after the morning drill ride, I never realised it but every horse was worked 6 days a week. I let their drill ride's hoof beats thrum me into a doze as I brushed the horses down before supper was called.

After supper I finished my duties and walked up to the sentry post by the gate, I asked if I could come up and they obliged. As I watched the setting sun across the forest in the horizon, I let down my hair and daydreamed about what tomorrow would bring, I hoped wonderful scenery and a feeling of purpose and peace.

After about half an hour I thought I should best go and retire, I would be up extremely early tomorrow and needed a good night's sleep, as I straightened up and turned to go I noticed someone else watching the sun sink below the trees. I walked over to the corner of the fort's upper tier to find James leaning across the top of the large trunks that made the fort wall.

He didn't look up as I approached, instead spoke softly whilst watching the dimming light.

"It's a beautiful sight, it fills oneself with a feeling of tranquillity that nothing else can."

"It truly is sir, I'd never thought to look up here before, I'm glad I did. I don't think I could ever get tired of such a view."

I leant next to him on the wall and looked out.

"Neither do I." He wasn't looking at the forest anymore. I blushed and let my eyes drop to the floor as his rested on me.

He watched me for a minute without moving, I dipped my head to hide my reddened cheeks and my hair fell across my shoulders. He leant towards me and pushed my hair back out of my face so he could see my eyes. Brown fell upon blue and I was at a loss for words.

"Tomorrow will be a test for you; I hope you enjoy it because if you do you will be allowed to be inducted fully into the Military. You will not be a soldier; you will be among the ranks of our non fighting men. You will be addressed as one and allowed the same courtesies, you will have a proper place amongst us if you so wish. You will train for us and work with us, help us choose stock and tend to them. But you will have the option of leaving that the fighting ranks do not, you will never be pressured to stay here. If you decide you would rather leave and go back to your old life we will take you back, but no longer can you stay without purpose. You have been here for a month and the trial I offered you is over, you have seen what we have to offer and if you enjoy it and wish to stay we will all be grateful."

I straightened up and turned to face him, I knew I would have to choose either way but it was amazing to think it had only been a month since I had left, I felt like I had been here forever. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere and I could make a difference, I could change the way the horses were treated and trained and give the military a cavalry to be proud of. But my heartstrings felt tugged both ways as I thought of home, I know it was always going to one day go to William so I could do my own things, but was he ready?

The Colonel seemed to read my thoughts stood up to face me. "A few days after the patrol we will be going back into town for supplies if life allows it, you can tie up any loose ends there if you choose to stay, or pack up and go home if you do not."

I went to speak, but no words came out so I just stood there looking at him in uncertainty. He took my hand in his and held it tight.

"I truly hope you decide to stay, but I will never forget you if you do not."

Before I could stop myself I'd dropped his hand and stepped forwards, pressing myself into him, my hands either side of my face as I rested my cheek on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and drew me in close, leaning his chin in my hair. I dug my fingers into his jacket as he held me gently, I felt safer than I'd ever been before in his embrace. I knew my place was here, but could I let myself be happy. I'd never let myself go before others and the things I felt in the Colonel's arms were new and strange to me, almost frightening.

It was a daunting prospect and as I stood there in his arms everything I had been holding away from myself seemed to crash down on me like waves from the sea. It could have been minutes or hours that passed but neither of us spoke or moved, I listened to his steady breathing against my cheek and everything seemed to pale in comparison to this moment. I gently pushed away and he let his arms drop from me, I looked up at him.

"I must go and rest for tomorrow."

"Of course." I couldn't glean anything from his expression, he never let anything out and without another word I turned away to climb down and hurried to my quarters.

Tomorrow I would be going out on my first patrol with the Colonel and his men, I went straight to bed to help myself calm down and sleep so I would be well rested and ready for the morning.


	18. The Patrol

We were up at 3am for the patrol, I groaned drearily as I got up then my thoughts focused on the coming day and my excitement soon took over. A soldier stood outside my door and knocked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Your uniform Miss Chase, I hope you find it suitable, we can change the size of boots if needed."

I pulled on my dressing gown over my night gown and came to the door, I opened it and was presented with a military uniform, my eyes widened with shock and I hastily took them from the waiting soldier. Never had I expected to be asked to wear something like this. It composed of a blue collared shirt, braces and a blue military jacket, blue riding breeches and black riding boots. The material was scratchy and the boots were stiff but it fit, I took the black belt and looped it high up round my waist to make the uniform fit me better and be more manageable for riding. The cap felt tight on my head but at least it would give me some relief from the sun.

When I came out of my bunk I looked around to see who was coming with us, it was myself, James, Fletcher who was the one who told the story about Spirit in the bar that night and a younger officer called Rick. We were to head out into the forest a days ride away from the Fort and search for signs that anyone had camped, we would spend a maximum of two days out on the range and then head back with our findings and any fresh food we could pick up along the way.

The soldiers complimented me on the fit of the uniform and the Colonel barely concealed a look of surprise.

"You look like you've been here your whole life Miss Chase; we'd best steal into the dawn before the soldiers awake and find a young woman in military uniform awaiting them." Fletcher joked and slapped my shoulder roughly, laughing heartily at himself.

The Colonel silenced the men with a flick of his wrist and motioned for us to mount up, I went to walk forwards and saw two soldiers leading our horses, already saddled in the military saddles and bridles, the blue cloth underneath flapping in the early morning breeze. Jesse threw me a look of disdain at the uncomfortable saddle but you could see the excitement rising from the group.

The Colonel mounted first; once he was seated I swung up into Jesse's saddle. Only after we both had mounted did the soldiers jump onto their horses. All of the cavalry twitched with nervous excitement as we headed towards the large gates that enclosed the fort. A shrill whinny rang out as Bailey saw us all and got himself worked up, I paid him no mind and walked out onto the open plain.

We walked in silence, myself and James at the head of the ride, Fletcher and Rick behind. I watched the wild creatures disperse as we walked along the trail of dusty hoof prints that led to and from the gates as an early morning fog settled around us. The air felt electric and I couldn't help but smile to myself, if my friends back home could see me now donned in military gear out on patrol!

The excitement soon subsided as we took a slow walk towards the forest so we could wait for the fog to clear, the horses took less and less pointed strides and realised nothing exciting was about to happen. Jesse ignored the military horses and stretched his legs gleefully, just happy to be out of that boring routine in the fort.

By mid morning the fog had subsided and the forest could be seen on the horizon, it stretched across the right side of the fort from behind a large rock formation and canyon for miles to see and continued across the river that ran behind it. It went up into the mountains and shrouded their bases in greenery, it was a wondrous site, something the sentries got to see all day long.

I finally got to have a good look at our group and horses in the early morning sunlight. There was Jesse and Sampson, the same breed but completely different in everything from looks to temperament. Jesse was small, slight and gentle where as Sampson was proud, aggressive but not mean spirited and large. Fletcher rode a light bay thoroughbred gelding with a large, sloping head and Roman nose, dark eyes and a long neck. He moved in an offbeat tempo to the other horses and was about 15hh, but moved with the strides of a larger horse, he was called Titan. Rick rode a very dark brown thoroughbred x mustang mare; she had a pretty face and elegant shape like a thoroughbred, with all the muscle and thickness of a mustang. She was called Jenny.

I looked back at Sampson and wondered about the horses in the cavalry.

"Do all the soldiers get their own horse sir?" I asked the Colonel to break the silence.

"Each soldier is assigned to two or three horses depending on the amount at our disposal. They always have an older already trained horse and a younger or greener animal to work with, as well as helping to break in the new stock. A soldier's mount is his partner so we have them work their assigned horses alone and they have to know everything about their horses, it could save their life in battle. Each soldier shares what he knows about each horse so if the time came in a battle that a soldier lost his horse and found another, he would recognise whose it was and know how to ride it accordingly. They are all numbered for ease, each number can be found under their brand, but everyone gives them their own stable names. Only higher ranking officers have their own personal mount like the Corporal's Dansen and my Sampson. We own these horses and brought them with us or bought them along the way. Though sometimes a soldier will come with their own horse from home or bring along stock for us and they are allowed to keep them as well as their assigned horses as long as they keep time for them. We evaluate them and if they are suitable allow them to be their main mount for war. A horse that you know and trust will more often than not save your neck in times of crisis instead of having a horse you do not know or cannot rely on."

I looked over each horse with wonder. "I never realised any of that, it always seemed to anyone outside the army that they just rode whatever stock available, your methods make a lot more sense and are completely correct. I know it times of need I can rely on Jesse, understand him and know what he can and cannot do, in return he can trust me to keep him safe and guide him." I scratched Jesse's long mane, wondering if I would have to hog it if we were inducted into the army.

James smiled and leant over and patted Jesse's crest before leaning down and running his hands along Sampson's smooth well muscled neck. "I feel the same way about Sampson, we may not love our mounts with all our heart as you do Miss Chase, but we trust them and to us, they are our fellow soldiers, not merely mounts."

Not wanting to let silence envelop us again, I kept the conversation going.

"Is there a reason other than appearance that you hog, clip and shoe all the horses?"

"Yes and no, the main reason is for discipline, just as the soldiers must be turned out in uniform all times of the day, hot or cold, wet or dry, the horses must be turned out correctly as well to show regulation and, as you said, for appearances sake, the army have a reputation to keep. Spotless soldiers and spotless mounts are a must, the shoes are to make sure that in an emergency we can run on any ground, the hog is not only to keep them neat, you may have noticed all the soldiers are 'hogged' as well," He winked at me, "apart from higher ranking officers, but sometimes a mane can get in the way during war and tangle, and when you are on the run for days on end you cannot always groom them, a matted, heavy mane will upset a horse. We clip feather and extra hair to keep them neat, as I said before, all the soldiers look the same in their uniform for discipline, a different uniform shows a different rank, but still retain their individuality for the most part, so do the horses, though of different colours and unique markings, they are all turned out the same. You have to earn your rank and individualities here, we all start the same."

"It truly amazes me that so much thought goes behind everything the Military does, even tiny things that none of us would even think about normally."

He nodded and it made me admire him even more, with his long hair, special uniform and riding hat so much different from the soldiers, even men older than himself, you could see he had clawed his way to the top over the years through sheer perseverance and work alone. He was not a man born great, nor did he have greatness thrust upon him, he made himself great.

I felt new awe and wonder for the military, I suddenly felt much closer to my father who had always adored the military, but due to an injury from a horse at a young age was never able to join. Instead he did the next best thing and supplied their horses.


	19. The Forest

By Midday we had reached the edge of the canyon and rock formations, the inside of the canyon was full of winding trails and treacherous pits and ravines so we rode around it to get to the forest behind, I looked over my shoulder back to the fort and it was flickering in the heat, even though the air was growing colder as winter approached it was still incredibly hot during the day. Nothing could be seen around the fort, it looked almost like it was situated in the middle of the desert.

As the day drew to a close the ground started to become green and gentle on the horses feet, we crossed a wide amount of sparse grassland before entering the forest, we rode in slightly to find a clearing to stop for lunch, we had ridden out to the east (or left if you are walking out the gates from inside, right if you are facing the fort from the outside) of the fort towards the river, any enemy scouts would camp by the river or across the river in the base of the mountains where there would be fresh water and enough cover and shelter for them. Though they may realise we know it and camp further in, they would leave signs around the river of their being.

As we pulled up the horses they yawned and stretched, flicking their tails in the heat as flies buzzed around them. We tied them by their reins to the trees around us and sat down a small way away to keep the flies away from the food, we had bread, cheese and a small portion of ham for lunch as well as water to drink. The water was warmed by the sun and I looked forward to drinking from the cool clear river that was about 10 minutes away from our current position.

We ate in silence, every ear straining to hear anything out of the ordinary, any warning calls from birds, scattering prey, footprints or the sound of voices. Once we had finished our food we came back to the horses and offered them water poured into a leather bag, they weren't very interested and I guessed they could smell the sweet scent of rushing water up ahead. I gave Jesse a small bite of my bread I'd saved him before we mounted up again.

We made our way to the river and the Colonel divided us up, he and myself would go to the first crossing and go over to the other side of the river and check the base of the mountains, Fletcher and Rick would follow the river down and check for any signs of life along the way, we would meet at the 6th crossing place which was about a mile downriver in 2 hours and report what we had found. If any trouble were to arise we were to let off our guns to alert the other party.

As I looked down the river to the open plains I realised the fort was no longer in view, we were totally alone out here. I shivered involuntarily and followed the Colonel through the gentle current, Jesse splashed through and took a long drink along with Sampson who sipped neatly, amused by the younger mustang's antics. We came out the other side and to my surprise Jesse gave a full body shake that nearly unseated me. I pulled myself back into place to find the Colonel laughing at me.

"Don't laugh or I'll put you on him." I rubbed Jesse's mane in embarrassment as the Colonel laughed even harder.

"Now that would be a sight to see, I think I may break him." Jesse put his ears back when he realised the Colonel's joke was aimed at him.

We both laughed and continued away from the river and grassy meadow and into the forest, it was dark inside from the sheer weight of the trees but light shone through in patches making sunlight flicker across trees like fairies flitting about. Once we were completely enveloped by the forest we kept silent, using the horses to hear for us if any disturbances were made. We fanned out about 10 metres apart and dismounted. Tying the horses up to the trees, the Colonel told me what to look for.

"You want to look for broken branches/stems and leaves on plants and bushes, disturbed leaves and foot prints/hoof prints, bits of cloth ripped by branches, scuffed dirt and even blood caught on protruding parts of plants. Any dirt that looks like it has been moved should be scraped away with your foot in case it reveals the signs of a fire."

"Do a half circle away from Jesse until you nearly lose sight of him then make your way back in another half circle, do not lose sight of your horse, if you find anything call me. Here."

He pulled out a small revolver from his saddle bags.

"You know how to use it?"

"Point and shoot?"

"Correct, if anything arises, shoot into the air so you don't put anything at risk but alert us, though if you need to defend yourself, aim for their heart. I do not expect us to meet any trouble out here, but you never know." He handed me a gun holster which I attached around my waist like a normal belt, slotting it through the loops on my breeches and put the revolver inside, the weight of it felt like it was pulling me into the earth with the responsibility it held.

We parted ways and went to sweep our areas; I crouched low and checked each bush and plant, all I could find was chewed stems and cloved hoof prints from deer, with the occasional pile of droppings. I went up and down through the whole area, keeping Jesse in my sight the whole time, I found nothing and when I came back to meet James he had found nothing either.

We remounted and made our way to the foot of the mountains and rode along them, birds chattered noisily up ahead. James taught me to listen to their calls; a high pitched caw that repeated over and over was a warning call to other prey animals that a predator was in the vicinity, whilst a loud fast chattering was a warning to the predator to keep away. We came upon a herd of deer and James showed me how to pass through them without scattering them by staying low over our horses backs and allowing them to take us through. He also taught me that if you couldn't hear birds in the trees, death had swept the forest in some way, never enter a silent forest.

I was amazed by the amount he knew about tracking, there were so many things we underestimated about the Army, they needed skills with swords and guns, arm to arm combat, tracking, hunting, riding and needed to understand the land they surveyed. He showed me where a group of wolves had lain a few days before, the crumpled blades of grass coupled by a distinct smell of droppings covered over by earth. Each creature had its own tell tale signs showing you how and where it lived, lay and hunted. Bone grounds covered the forest where creatures had eaten and then dug pits for the bones so as not to attract unwanted attention and we even came across the remnants of an Indian burial ground at the foot of one of the larger mountains. At first I was scared but James assured me it was very old and they had come across it many times, no tribes lived within maybe 4 days to a weeks ride of the fort. They held the land as far as the eye could see in all directions.

The two hours passed without mishap and we came back to the river to find the 6th crossing, marked by a fallen tree that went halfway out into the river. They knew every part of this forest and river and it amazed me how we never once took a wrong turn or got lost, it helped a lot in our search as we knew were the clearings were, the most sheltered parts and where there was no safe place to camp so we could base our scout on them instead of searching the entire place.

Once we crossed back over to the other side we dismounted to let our horses graze and waited for the other two soldiers.

Whilst we were alone I watched James eyeing the area for signs and thought about last night, how safe I felt when I was with him and it made me smile without realising, for when he looked at me he asked me what I was smiling about.

"Nothing," I said slightly flustered, "just about how peaceful it is out here and how glad I am to be in such good company."

He smiled, his moustache lifting up at each end, his smiles were never large nor joyful, everything about him was so well disciplined that only his eyes betrayed anything, if they ever betrayed any emotion at all.

He stepped closer to me and I looked him up and down. I couldn't deny the man looked good in uniform, that made me laugh quietly and I had to look away.

"What?" He asked as he watched me carefully.

"Nothing, I just, not many men could look so good in riding boots and breeches. The men back home would look out of sorts when they're so used to strutting around in roughed up cowboy boots and tattered muddy jeans." I blushed; it was the first time I'd properly returned the Colonel's affections, what those feelings were I did not know, they were just there, pushing at me every moment of the day and every dream during the night.

It was James's turn to laugh as he came up next to me and pulled me into him.

"I've never seen a woman in military uniform before, so I cannot compare, but neither can I deny just how wonderful you look in it. I do hope you stay, it would brighten my day up dramatically seeing you in this every morning."

I smiled joyfully and leant against him before noticing Jesse pick his head up slightly, our embrace would be short lived as Fletcher and Rick were returning, soon Sampson picked his head up as well, though we could not see them, the horses could hear their approach. We broke apart and mounted up just in case it was someone else who was coming along.

The Colonel fingered his gun as hoof prints broke the sound of gushing water and he shouted 'Halt!'

"Second Lieutenant Fletcher Jones and Corporal Rick McCrery returning Colonel." Came the slight Irish accent of Rick from the trees.

"Advance."


	20. The Camp

They both came out into the grass next to the river and dipped their heads in greeting before sharing their findings. They had also found no trace of any people in this part of the forest, though the supply wagon was only raided a day and a half ago so they could not have gotten too far without leaving a trace. We would make camp now in a clearing through the trees close enough to the river to break for it if needed. If a problem arose we were to head for the river and follow it out in the open so our attackers had to show themselves, the trees were far enough away from the waters edge so that archers would have a hard time acquiring a target.

The horses would stay saddled and a watch regime would be set up. We lined the horses out in a grassy patch between two trees by fixing a long stretch of rope in between them and tying the horses along it so they could walk up and down, knots in the rope kept them from walking into one of the other horses and taking their grass or causing a fight.

The first thing was to start a fire, no alive pieces of wood, greenery or wet wood could be used as it would make too much smoke and could alert our presence to others, so myself and Fletcher set off in search of firewood whilst James and Rick cleared the area.

When we were far enough away from the camp that everything was silent, Fletcher turned to me.

'It's funny to think Miss that if it weren't for my drunken story tellin' we wouldn't be here right now."

I grinned widely at him and said. "I guess I have you to thank then, I also noticed you've had a promotion since then, I did love your story, a week after I heard you in the bar I set out on Jesse to find the herd."

"Ye m'am, I've worked awful hard these past 5 years. I heard about you staying with them, I can't believe you'd been trackin' them for 5 years! That's incredible, how'd you manage it?"

"I stayed with the Indian tribes." I watched him as he took in my words, his voice was rough but gentle and he spoke like a much older man. War really did change people.

Now he looked shocked.

"The Indians? Didn't they scare you miss, they could have done you awful harm."

"No, they were very kind to me and Jesse and allowed us to stay with them and watch the herd."

"That's amazing, we don't talk about it much here but sometimes we feel bad for having to kill the tribes, not all of them are bad, same as any kind of people. A lot of the soldiers enjoy it and see them as the enemy, I used to, but watching that Indian boy and his horse changed my whole perspective, the Colonel's too I should think, everyone who was there that day learnt a lot."

"Have you killed many natives Fletcher?"

"That I have, many men and women when we raided their villages, we try to just scare em' to keep em' quiet but sometimes they decide to attack our scouts and things so we go after their people. That's why we're out here today, to avoid deaths we're gonna find out how many and take a big enough force to chase em' off. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid killin' any."

I nodded and thought of a way to change the flow of conversation but he beat me too it.

"Enough of me though Miss Chase, everyone knows about me, but what about you? How're you finding it here?"

"At first I was terrified, but now I couldn't think of anywhere else I should be, I miss home but here I know I can make a difference, do something more with my life. It feels like my whole life has been leading up to this moment."

"The army does that to you." He smiled a big toothy grin at me as we picked up dead branches. "Are you going to stay?"

"I want too, very much so, but I don't know if I'm ready to finish everything back home."

As I looked up at Fletcher his goofy smile had been replaced by a look of pure understanding and compassion.

"We all feel the same way when we first leave. Most days the first night the boys arrive they're bawling like babies by the time they're left to their bunks. No one laughs at you for being homesick out here Miss, no one judges you either. I know a lot of us aren't the most welcoming sort to a woman in our midst, many see you as bad luck or a distraction. But so far you've proved without a doubt your man enough to be here. I regard you as one of the lads if you don't mind me saying, you're awful pretty and a lovely lady but you hold your own against us just like a true army man. Most of us seem to have forgotten what you came here as and accept you for what you've shown yourself to be, I won't be the only one sorry to see you go if you leave."

I nodded appreciatively but didn't speak; I wasn't sure whether my voice would hold together after such high praise from Fletcher. By the time our conversation ended we had gathered more than enough firewood to last and headed back to camp where the area had been cleared and our sleeping bags unrolled around the place where the fire would be.

We ate a supper of soup warmed over the fire in metal bowls with bread on the side. I felt so at home out here in the dark next to a fire, it reminded me of the days out with my father and brothers on the trail. Soon enough everything was quiet and I took up my position on first watch, Rick and Fletcher climbed into their sleeping bags and were soon out like a light, their loud breathing the only thing breaking the silence.

As I sat on a large rock just past the fire and stared out into the gloom all my senses became heightened, I could hear everything around me. I felt so calm with the heat of the fire on my back and the darkness of the forest laid out in front of me, I was truly at peace.

I noticed after a while that the Colonel was still awake, he was reading a book by firelight. I turned round ever so slightly to watch him but he noticed me, nothing got past him. He dog eared his book and put it down before standing up and coming over to me.

"You can't sleep?"

"Like I said before, I don't sleep very well." He settled down next to me on the rock.

"How do you manage it?"

He raised one eyebrow at me.

"How do you sleep so little but still be up before everyone else, do everything and never look tired?"

"When the mind finds a routine, the body changes to suit it, it's been so long now that my body has adjusted to the lack of sleep. I prefer it this way, though I may be brave in battle, I'm at the mercy of my mind during my dreams."

He looked away as he spoke, his eyes glazed over as he thought about the pain of his nightmares.

I took his hand and held it tight in mine. "Whenever I'm with you, I don't feel so afraid, I feel like nothing can hurt me and that I'm safe. I wish I could do the same for you."

He met my gaze and squeezed my hand tight. "You already do."

He rested his other hand on my leg and I leant closer to him, feeling like I needed to be close to him in order to breathe. He let go of my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his arms. I could feel his breath through my hair and I twisted so I was facing him. I put my arms around him and stood up, pulling him with me.

Once we were both standing I held him tight in my arms, not wanting to ever have to let go. The emotions inside me threatened to mutiny, just when I thought I could bear it no longer I looked up at him and he leant down and kissed me.

I'd been kissed plenty of times before, but nothing prepared me for him. Time seemed to stop as our lips touched and my heart beat so fast I thought I'd scare the woodland creatures away with its almighty thumping. My legs felt weak and I thought I would topple over but he held me against him, I pushed my hands up over his shoulders and entangled them in his hair and held him as close as I dared. The fire seemed to intensify and light up the whole clearing as I kept my eyes closed tight, nothing else in the world moved until we parted.

I released my grip on him and pulled my hands down and entwined them round his back and held him to me like a precious jewel. I didn't understand what was happening or why, all I knew is I couldn't escape it any longer. His hands caressed my back gently and he held me as if I would disappear if he let me go. I'd never felt so safe or at peace in my entire life, even though my whole body was at war with itself.

I looked over the clearing to make sure Rick and Fletcher were still asleep, and satisfied we sat back down on the cold rock, I leant my head onto his shoulder and we waited in silence for my watch to be over.

As we sat there I listened to the Colonel's breathing and heard the intake of breath one takes before speaking.

"Miss Chase, what is your name short for?"

"What, Cally?"

"Yes, I have been wondering that for some time."

"It's Calisa sir, Pa said only small town girls had small town names and wanted me to get out of there. I used to get awful bothered about it at school as every other girl was called Sue or Annie and they all ridiculed me so I nicknamed myself Cally."

"Calisa is a beautiful name, he was right about you, you aren't a small town girl, it suits you well."

I didn't reply, instead I just buried my head into his shoulder and held his arm, winding my fingers through his as the unrelenting dark around us waited for the sun.

When my watch had passed the Colonel got up and slipped into his sleeping bag and I woke Rick up, Rick got up drearily and took his position on the rock with his rifle in his arms,

I climbed into my sleeping bag that was laid out precariously close to the Colonel's. He had his back turned to me but I knew he was not asleep, though he had the dawn watch. I stared at his gently breathing figure until I drifted into an easy sleep.


	21. New Tracks

I woke up to the sound of birdsong and looked around me, the fire had been put out and was covered over with dirt and the air was hazy. It must have been maybe half an hour before dawn and as I sat up I saw the Colonel at the watch post, his rifle resting in between his legs as he surveyed the gloomy forest.

I went to speak and he put his hand up in the air and whispered 'Shhh.'

I crept out of my sleeping sack and walked slowly over to him, crouching down by the rock so we were level.

"What is it?" I whispered back.

"There has been a fire about half a days ride from our position, deep in the heart of the forest, when I walked down to the river earlier to stretch my legs I saw it. It was only a tiny one like ours but they hadn't seemed to have noticed us so I put ours out, I was just about to wake you all up."

I blinked uncertainly and watched the trees, half expecting someone to burst out from it. I went over to wake Rick and Fletcher up and kept them quiet, we gathered our supplies together and packed them into our saddle bags before we mounted up. We crept through the forest towards the point where James had spotted the fire and looked around warily.

"Why do you suppose it was so close sir?" Rick asked blearily.

"I'd expect they're planning another raid, we must hurry." He urged Sampson on into a lope once the trees cleared to make larger gaps between them.

We matched pace behind him and Jesse bucked in joy of being able to move his legs and I had to quieten him down before he caused trouble. We made our way in a curving line towards the camp site being careful to avoid any animals we came across in the misty morning so as not to raise alarm. Birds chattered angrily but we flew past them and they didn't raise the alarm as we kept going.

James motioned for us to move apart slightly so we didn't make too much noise with the horses combined hoof prints and we fanned out across the forest, dodging trees and roots to find a big enough track to keep them loping along. Once the forest opened out more he urged Sampson into a gallop wherever the trees allowed and we made up good time, the sun was almost completely over the horizon by the time we slowed the horses down.

Soon the forest was alive and we had to stay at a steady trot to keep ourselves hidden. Once we got to the general area where the fire had been James had Rick and I stay behind and hold the horses, staying mounted in case of trouble as they got off and went to search the area. Animals called to each other and birds flew through the branches overhead as we waited for their return.

An hour passed and we started to get worried, no gunshot had been fired and there was no movement through the trees, we waited patiently until finally Fletcher and James came jogging back to us. He leapt straight onto Sampson without even touching his stirrups and Fletcher hopped across Titan's back and straight into the saddle like a child leapfrogging their friend. They spurred the horses on but kept us quiet; there was no note of panic in their movements but just an unease that made me fretful.

Once we were moving James turned to myself and Rick and called out.

"We found the campsite and the tracks of many Indians, more than the ones who raided our supply wagon, they've moved on and we tracked them quite far into the forest, we think they might be gathering men to attack the fort for supplies. We must hurry back and prepare ourselves."

We all nodded in unison and kept the horses moving through the trees until we reached the river, once out in the open we let the horses fly across the ground as fast as they dared. Soon they were lathered with foamy sweat but none of them wavered, their fitness was peaked and they could keep going forever.

By the time the sun had crossed the sky and the air was growing cold we were almost back to the fort and the horses had slowed down to a gentle lope across the dusty cracked ground. The soldiers saw us approach and whistled down to the mass of soldiers inside so they knew to open the gates. We trotted in and the horses heaved a huge sigh of relief, James swung down the second he was inside the gate and came over to me and held out his hand for me to dismount. Once I was on the ground soldiers came to take Jesse, but I stopped them. I pulled out some oats from my pocket and he scoffed them noisily and I gave him a huge pat before letting them take him.

Once the horses had been untacked and rubbed down the Colonel called all the men out into the yard and briefed them on the days findings, once everyone had been given a specific duty to do he came over to me.

"I don't want you to worry Miss Chase, this fort is well protected and has never been infiltrated fully, sometimes they get in but our sheer force and weapons keep them at bay, there is not a force big enough around these parts to take us out, if anything, they will attack outside and try to steal the supplies without having to venture in here."

I nodded but couldn't help letting worry cross my face as I watched the soldiers mount up, there were going to do drill rides around the whole of the fort before we finished for the day and tomorrow do firing displays every couple of hours to alert anyone for miles around that we were well protected.

He saw my worry and touched his fingers to my hand so quickly I barely noticed it, but it made me feel safe to know he was there. Nobody saw our fleeting touch and we went back to our business as if nothing had happened these past few nights.

The next day came and the morning passed quickly, after I'd let the boys stretch their legs and bathed down Harry again I took Bailey out and, making sure everywhere was clear, put him into the stocks and tacked him up. He caused me a few issues as I had no soldiers to help me with him this time but he eventually gave up and ignored me in frustration, I lashed the bag of alfalfa to his saddle without hesitation and he squealed in disapproval. I led him out despite his regular kicks out in upset and took him to the corral. I let him off and he flew about half heartedly, knowing he wouldn't dislodge the bag.

Once he had calmed down I went to catch him, as I walked over to him I heard the familiar called of the Lieutenant who was directing the drill ride outside and suddenly realised they were going to let off their guns. A knot formed in my stomach and I quickly hopped through the bars and out of the arena as an almighty sound was released into the air, Bailey's head shot up and he roared before screeching across the arena and slamming himself into the rails of the fence, he managed to smash one with an almighty crack which only drove him on with more fury. At one point I thought he was going to go over the fence, but instead slowed down and slammed his chest into the bars.

It took me half an hour to calm him down and when he was done he was so exhausted he could barely move, I realised with a flicker of glee, quickly extinguished by guilt, that this would be the perfect time to ride him.

The men were coming through the gate now with their horses and I saw the Colonel leading the ride on another army horse, a big black gelding called Dread. As he waited for the soldiers to dismount and disperse I walked over to him and told him of my plan, he nodded in agreement and said he'd have everyone ready and quiet for me after lunch, when someone was breaking horses in everyone was allowed to watch, it meant there would be no distractions going on to ruin the ride, I felt incredibly grateful as my first ride on Bailey wouldn't go well along with firing displays.


	22. The First Ride

As I watched everyone file around the arena fence after lunch I asked them to all keep a few yards back, nervous excitement couple with a sick feeling that everyone was watching me flitted around my stomach and I gritted my teeth as I walked into the arena with a roll of rope in my hands.

Bailey was in his corner again, breathing heavily and looked miserable and defeated, he perked up slightly as I came over before going back to acting like I had betrayed him terribly as I caught him and led him to the chute. A soldier offered to fetch me a bridle but I told him no, I was to ride Bailey bitless and let him decide.

Once he was shut in I asked for everyone to stay back, I untied the bag of alfalfa from his saddle and made sure to clump it around heavily before lifting it off, making it feel like a rider shifting out of the saddle. Once that was out of the way I gave him a handful of oats and tied the piece of rope like reins to the knot underneath Bailey's chin.

I pulled on them a few times this way and that whilst I stood on the rails so I hovered over him, letting him feel the pull and resisting, waiting for him to give in and flex his head this way and that. At home I would have done this after months of work in a tiny round pen, but here it had been only a week since I started my work with him. I took another section of rope and tied it round his neck; this would be what I would rely on to keep me on if I lost my seat, instead of using his head and causing distress to him.

Once I was satisfied he was ready I got ready to climb on, Bailey didn't even try to move out from under me as I hovered over his back, he was too exhausted to care. I let myself down slowly, one leg staying on the rails along with my hand so I could pull myself off if needed. I sat down in the saddle and Bailey flattened his ears and backed up, hitting the bars with his rump. I lifted myself off again, then lowered myself back down, each time staying a bit longer.

After about 6 times of lowering myself onto him I stayed there, stroking his frothy neck and cooing to him quietly. He shifted about underneath me but didn't back up again. I slipped my feet into the stirrups and let my legs brush his sides, getting a kick out from his right hind leg and a snort of offence. Once my feet were secure I started moving them around him, I could hear every hair being brushed about as the whole crowd were completely silent. Bailey skittered about and tossed his head and threatened to buck but his breathing was laboured and his eyes were dull with exhaustion.

I put my leg on him and he lurched forwards in the shoot, pulling his head to the floor before backing up into the rails, I put my leg on again and once again he lurched, I kept at it, letting him feel my body. He bumped my legs into the sides and squealed regularly but he had no will to fight me in this tiny space. Out in the corral would be another thing entirely.

I then started posting in the saddle as if we were doing an English style trot, he humped underneath me and let off little bucks and I kept on until he quieted and put his head back down. Once I was satisfied, I took up the reins very loosely and grabbed the neck rope, firming my grip around it until I had it all at the perfect length so I wouldn't pull his head. I then nodded to be let out of the chute.

They opened the gate into the corral slowly and Bailey skittered about before realising it was open, he stepped forwards tentatively and felt my weight, he then lurched into the arena, throwing me about, as soon as my body moved on top of him he was off, bolting blind across the arena, the panic rising with his speed as he realised I wasn't coming off of him.

Whereas his sire had taken glee in dumping the soldiers, Bailey panicked and fretted and rammed me into the rails. I felt jolts of pain go through my legs as we hit each rail in turn and Bailey freaked out. He slowed down and finally started to buck, I let go of the rope with one hand and didn't try to steer or slow him, he had nowhere to go so I let him do what he pleased.

The bucks he let loose were incredible; they felt like a 17hh racehorse, not a 15hh mustang. No wonder his sire gave everyone such a hard time, once Bailey's panic had subsided into sheer determination not to be broken he started catapulting me this way and that in the saddle, roaring and squealing as he kicked himself into the air again and again. His aerial displays were so aggressive he kept nearly falling over when he hit the ground, once pecking on landing and scraping his knees across the floor hard.

He kept ramming himself chest first into the fence line in an attempt to shoot me up his neck but I never budged. So instead he galloped flat out before screeching to a halt and throwing his head back, trying to hit me in the face, I leant back and put my arm out in front of me to keep his head away from me. I kept scratching his neck with the hand that held the rope and didn't make a sound as he twisted and turned in frustration. I could feel his bucks getting weaker and he tossed his head in fury before ramming me into the side of the rails again.

Then without warning he pushed off the rails and went into a flat out gallop at the fence line, I realised with a jolt that he was going to attempt to jump the fence. Without a bit I knew I had no hope of pulling up but I still grabbed the reins and hauled anyways, hoping to steady his movement so if he did attempt the fence, he would be more likely to make it without crashing down the other side.

I heard the soldiers shouting and rushing to the corner of the fence, waving their arms at him to try and scare him away, He sidestepped sharply and I became dislodged and grabbed his mane and within seconds he'd pushed off the ground with an almighty kick and jumped diagonally over the fence,. The soldiers stood back in shock and horror as I hung off Bailey, I couldn't try to regain my seat whilst in the air as I'd make him hit the fence so instead I clung to his hogged mane, feeling so glad that it had started to grow out enough that I could wrap my hands in it.

The fence was over 5ft in height and Bailey had cleared it without any hesitation, I could help but want to laugh as we soared through the air. I saw the soldier's faces and for a split second thought about what they would say. Then we hit the ground and we hit it with the force of a steam train. Bailey's legs buckled and I came flying off the side of him, I tried to roll to catch the impact and put one arm in front of my head. I hit down with my elbow and shoulder and crashed into the floor, knocking out all my breath and winding me, I rolled onto my back as Bailey hit the floor beside me.

I tried to shout 'leave him!' but nothing came out and the soldiers grabbed me by the arms and hauled me to my feet. Bailey didn't move from where he was sprawled out across the ground and I motioned to them to come away from him. Surprised they came over to me and held me steady as blinking lights came across my vision. We had landed just outside the blacksmith's building, by the looks of the fence, the exact same place where his father had crashed through the fence all those years before.

I shook my head furiously and staggered as I stood upright and took a huge gulp of air. I heard people being pushed aside as the Colonel grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up to look at him.

"Are you OK Miss Chase?" Concern filled his voice and for once he didn't try to hide his emotions.

"I'm fine." I croaked and I sagged to one side. I started to cough and hack and the soldiers moved in closer before they realised I was laughing.

"I just jumped a wild mustang 5ft something." I laughed and hacked up again as James steadied me. Relief swept over his face and he stepped back from me and resumed his normal composure.

Once I had steadied myself I looked over to Bailey, he had sat up now and was lying like a horse that was resting in the stable, I walked shakily over to him and he went to get up but I pushed him down. Now everyone was crowded around us as I swung my leg over him and hit down in the saddle hard, Bailey squealed but didn't move as I pushed my aching leg over his stomach and into my stirrup.

"Miss Chase…" James trailed off as he stood in bewilderment watching me.

I asked for someone to bring me a bridle, I saw Rick run off to the tack shed and come back minutes later with a bridle. I pushed Bailey down and told him to bit him, Rick approached Bailey and he bared his teeth and I punched him gently in the neck so he turned his eye on me and went to squeal, as he opened his mouth Rick shoved the bit into his teeth and pulled the bridle over his ears in one swift movement. Anger flushed through Bailey as I grabbed the reins and pulled on his bit, he snaked his head and opened his mouth as wide as he could.

I shouted for a crop and someone hastily handed me one, as I felt everyone's eyes upon me in bewilderment and possibly, fear? I pulled back on the bit and smacked Bailey on the quarters with the crop. Bailey pitted himself forwards and lurched to his feet, staggering worse than I had when I had stood up. He side stepped a few times and crossed his legs before managing to hold himself up; he let out a huge sigh and didn't move. I had won.

A huge cheer rose up from the crowd before I silenced them, I pulled Bailey around to face the main gate and walked him towards it, he wound his way across the open space like a snake, kicking out his back legs in anguish before I turned him round to face the fence, it was around 10, maybe 15 yards away.

"What are you going to do?" James shouted from the front of the crowd.

"We're going back into the arena, otherwise he'll jump out and throw every rider you put on him off in the process."

They looked at me like I was raving mad, but no one made a move, I walked him down next to the bunk buildings and turned him on his heels with an almighty roar as the bit caught him in the mouth. I wasn't trying to be gentle now, I wanted him to know he would do whatever the hell I told him without objection, otherwise I'd never get him back over that fence, once we were back in I'd settle down to my gentle, soothing self.

I kicked him hard and he rocked forwards, coming straight into a canter, his strides choppy and uneven as we cantered towards the crowd, at the last second and as they all took a step back I yanked him round, I put my crop to his quarters and he roared again but didn't buck, we covered the ground with gathering speed.

 _One,_ his stride lengthened and he reeled, _two,_ one more stride between us and the fence, _three,_ Bailey threw all his weight forwards and pitched into the fence and I screamed 'GET UP' at him, he got in deep to the rails and threw himself into the air, I threw myself onto his neck and grabbed his mane, pushing my hands up his crest into a textbook release, my legs flung forwards and my backside barely out of the saddle as if we were in a jumping competition.

Bailey flew into the air and must have gone at least a foot above the actual rail with his front hooves, he hit the rail hard with his backs and I thought I heard a crack as the rail broke underneath his weight before I threw myself backwards to help him land and we hit the ground with a large thud and Bailey staggered across the arena trying to keep himself off the ground as I held on tight. He waited until he was steady enough before unleashing another torrent of bucks on me but he couldn't keep it up for long, it was his last ditch attempt before accepting defeat.

I rocked forwards and back in the saddle and kicked him on across the arena until he stopped. He just stopped mid buck and splayed his legs apart, coughing and wheezing. I could feel his legs tremble underneath me and foamy spit poured from his mouth. The bit had rubbed his mouth raw and bleeding from its alien presence in his mouth and he spat froth and blood across the arena floor, I joined him in it as I spat blood from my mouth where I had bit my tongue as I hit the ground a few minutes ago. I pulled some well crushed oats out of my pocket and leant forwards, putting them under Bailey's nose.

Bailey snuffled them up as the crowd exploded from where they were pressed against the fence watching me like a hawk. I patted Bailey all over and his ears slowly came off his neck and went forwards, he wheezed once more before calming himself down. I sat on him with no contact and didn't move until his breathing slowed down and all the foam had been spat from his mouth, then I asked him to walk on, picking up my rope reins and dropping the ones connected to his bit. He obliged shakily and tottered around the arena for a lap before I rode him out the gate as two soldiers pulled it open for me. I looked back at the fence line and saw I had heard correctly and he had snapped the top rail of the fence as we went over. I slid off his back outside the corral and checked his legs over, they were a little hot but so were his fronts. He was covered in small scrapes from where we'd hit the ground and I led him straight to the stocks, I untacked him and handed my tack to Rick who was hovering nearby before grabbing a bucket of water and sloshing it all over him with a sponge I found on the floor. Bailey put his top lip up in pleasure as I rubbed down all his aching muscles and poured the water across his back and massaged it into his fur.

Once he was dripping and had had every part rubbed and massaged I led him into his stall where I presented him with a huge bucket of oats and grain. He tucked into it like a horse who'd been starved and slopped it across the stall as I watched.

I heard footsteps behind me and saw the Colonel advancing; a few feet back were what seemed to be every soldier in the fort huddled behind him.

He stood me up in front of him and dusted me down, pulling my collar into the correct place and handing me my cap which I had seemed to have lost during the epic showdown.

"Come with us." He said with a voice like steel.

I looked at everyone and wondered why they had all gathered, I hoped I wasn't in trouble for breaking the fence.


	23. Induction

He led me and the rest of the soldiers out to where we presented ourselves for morning routines; they all spilled out behind me and formed rows, turning to face myself and the Colonel. The Lieutenant came up next to us and the Colonel addressed me.

"Miss Calisa Chase, over the past month you have proven yourself to be a woman of equal, if not higher skill to any Military man here today. Your trial is over and you have worked every day with unwavering dedication and proven your worth time and time again in knowledge and ability. On behalf of the United States Army I would like to extend an offer to you to join us as a full time member of our troops as a trainer."

I stood in complete and utter astonishment, with the impending attack and Bailey I had completely forgotten about this. I stood there for a moment with my mouth open before remembering everyone was staring.

The Colonel continued. "Once the threat has passed you will accompany us back to town to sort out anything you have to from your old life, you can no longer stay here without giving an answer."

I looked him straight in the eyes and all the mutinous feelings came back again, screaming at me to go home and look after my business, whilst other voices screamed at me to do it and damn the consequence.

I steeled myself and balled my hands into fists. "I accept your offer sir." And I bowed down low, holding myself there for a second.

A cheer rang out from who I can only assume was Fletcher who whooped, "YEAH!" And suddenly everyone was clapping. I straightened up and the Colonel smiled at me as a soldier came over and handed me a folded bundle of uniforms.

"You will be up with the other troops and ready for inspection when the call comes, you will be addressed as a man of the army and expected to act as such. You will behave with dignity and honour whether you are at your own house in the town or here at the fort and you will never act in such a way as to shame yourself and this regiment, am I understood."

"Yes sir!" I saluted and stood as tall as I could.

He took a small strip of yellow from his pocket and pinned it onto the right shoulder of my blue jacket to show I was not under the same division as the normal soldiers and pride welled up inside me until I thought I was going to lose it and cry. Instead I held my head high and stood to attention.

"Your father would be proud, especially of what you did today; none of my men could have ridden like that, not even me." He said in a quiet voice before raising his hand in a salute.

"At ease soldier." I saluted once more before being pummelled by Fletcher and Rick who grabbed me into a tight group hug.

"I knew you'd say yes Miss Chase!" Rick said excitedly as he and Fletcher tried their best to break my ribs.

"Men, Miss Chase has had a bad fall, I suggest you let her go before she passes out." I shot him a grateful look as I was released; all the other soldiers came over to congratulate me and shake my hands, passing me compliments on Bailey and my work with the other mustangs.

As I relaxed, weariness from the past couple of days coupled with the aches and pains of today rushed through me and I fought the urge to curl up into a ball on the ground and sleep. Instead I wandered aimlessly over to Jesse who was dozing in his stall with Sampson. He neighed as I approached and I let myself in and collapsed onto his neck.

"Oh Jesse, life is gonna be so different from now on." I sighed before sinking down and laying against his legs were I promptly fell asleep as the dark began to set in.


	24. A New Life

I awoke with a start to here the triangle being sounded for supper, as I looked up and groaned when I felt the muscles in my neck set on fire I heard something.

Someone was chuckling quietly over the stall wall and I saw James leaning onto it looking fairly amused.

I yawned and just managed to cover my mouth as he continued to stare at me. "Have you been watching me sleep?"

He looked offended and said. "No, I have been watching my horse, it was a total coincidence that you were here looking completely adorable curled up against your horse's legs."

He grinned at me and for the first time I saw his face really light up as he smiled.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I've been trampled by a herd of wild horses."

"And?"

I looked down at my uniform before looking back up.

"Elated, terrified, wondering if I've gone completely mad, I didn't know one person could feel so many different things at once without passing out."

"But you did pass out." He pointed out.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed.

"Are you gonna help a fellow soldier up or what?" I said, trying to sound as evil as I could.

"Possibly." He said, hovering over the wall with a smirk on his face that melted me.

I scowled at him and he promptly unlatched the door and came in, he held out his hand and I grasped it roughly as my whole body objected to me moving. He pulled me up and my legs buckled underneath me and I fell into him, grabbing at his shoulders to keep me up. He lifted up one eyebrow and looked out across the yard before pulling me up and kissing me.

Again he completely disarmed me and whatever strength I'd recovered from my nap disappeared, I leant into his arms as my legs turned to water and he held me tighter. Time stopped again and I wondered if there ever was anyone in the world but him who could make me feel this way. No, there wasn't, I decided, amazed at the hand fate had dealt me.

He pulled away and smiled at me. "I think we'd best get to supper before we are missed."

I groaned as he made me walk out of the stable, but the thought of food quickly cheered me up. We walked out of the stall hand in hand and into the dark yard, once out in the open he let go of me and we walked slightly apart across the fort to the food hall.

As we entered the hall I was met by smiles and compliments about today by everyone that we passed as we lined up to be served. I smiled and thanked everyone, careful not to do any fast movements as the large amounts of complaints from my muscles were screaming at me.

I heaved a huge sigh as I sat down at my regular table at the back of the hall with James and First Lieutenant Henry, I ate very slowly as my head started to throb.

"You look pretty wiped out Miss Chase, that fall you took was quite a bump." Came the Lieutenant's voice from the other side of the table.

"I've had worse; I just think it was the height from which we fell that has made me feel so horrible." I tried to make it sound light and breezy but couldn't quite manage it.

Without a sound the Lieutenant got up and walked out of the hall, I looked at James in surprise and he merely raised his eyebrows at me. Within about 2 minutes the Lieutenant was back and he had what looked like dried lavender in his hand, he held it out to me and I took it in confusion.

"Crumble that in your water tonight before you bathe yourself, leave it in there for about half an hour then rub the water where it all hurts, you'll feel a lot better in the morning for it."

Humbled, I thanked him for his kindness and put the lavender in my breeches pocket before returning to my food. As we ate in silence I played around the scene that had unfolded this afternoon. My induction into the Military Services, it all seemed so surreal, not only the whole circumstances, but for a woman to be in the military in the first place, even if it was only as a breaker. I fiddled with my collar with one hand whilst I ate and pondered everything I had once thought about this way of life and of the tales of the man that was sitting next to me.

Before coming here, this man was a terrifying thought to me, I'm pretty sure everyone in town was intimidated by him and the stories and whispered rumours that followed in his wake. Here was a man who had slaughtered hundreds of Indians, had been thrown from a horse once in his 25 years of service and who held most of the land around the mountains of South Dakota for the military with ease. He was unchallenged and unrivalled throughout most of America. he walked with the asserted confidence of a man who ruled the world, crowds would part to let him through and he never lost his cool.

When I used to see them come to pick up horses, everyone stayed away. Even the wranglers were intimidated by them, which was a hard thing to do. All because of him and yet in reality, he was a gentle, modest man whose rough demeanour housed that of a lonely soul.

The one thing that nagged at me, and had since that first day at the roundup, was my longing for Bailey to be free again. I wished there was a way I could have avoided breaking him and training him, along with his herd members. I wished I could return him to his herd and his legendary father, my heart felt torn in two at what I had become in order to keep him safe. At least he was with me and not being broken by the cowboy soldiers around me, that is all that comforted me.


	25. The Threat of Home

A couple of days had passed since I was inducted into the US Army, in those two days sentries had spotted a trail of smoke about 3 days ride from our fort. The Indians were going home and everyone finally started to relax, our drill rides and gun displays had worked.

That meant that we could go into town for supplies and I could go home, instead of feeling excited, I felt terrified. What on earth would everyone think as I rode through the town in military uniform?! Would they even recognise me?

The worry crept into my dreams and I had fitful sleeps, waking up a couple of times each night and not being able to get back to sleep for hours. I took to spending most of my evening out in the corral with Jesse or Bailey.

I had ridden him twice since the day I broke him, both times he'd careered off across the arena in a bronco fit before calming down enough to be worked. He shied from my legs and snatched at the bit but he worked, everything was falling into place. Bailey was to be the Colonel's second mount, which meant he could be kept entire, something that pleased me to no end. Though the Colonel often rode Dread when Sampson was not ridden, he did not click with him and found him to not be suitable for the work he was needed for. Once Bailey was ready, Dread would be taken on by the Lieutenant who did not have a second mount due to his older gelding having to be retired recently.

The next morning our small group tacked up ready to go into town. James was going to meet some Military Officials who would be coming back with us for a day or two before heading onto the camp at the railroad station, the Lieutenant would be acquiring supplies, a few soldiers were coming with us and that was it, there was 4 of us in total, we had to take 2 horses back to sell who were not cut out for military work and they were to look for some others, I possibly had a couple at home who could be suitable for the job.

It was a 3 day ride back to town and by the time we had arrived home everyone felt weary and stiff, as we entered the town it was nearing early evening and the streets were full of life. Everyone turned and stared as we walked through, people recognised me and stood with their jaws hanging open, I smiled and tried not to laugh at their faces when they saw me donned in my uniform. My yellow gloves felt hot on my hands and I was glad of my cap to keep the sun off my face, I didn't usually wear one and would come in from a ride red faced and sunburnt during the summer months.

It was September now, but out here the weather was still blistering and dry, dust blew off the road into our faces and it made me squint around. I noticed friends and people I'd trained horses for had started to trail behind us, I'd offered to let the men stay in my house for the night and rest the horses in my stables to save paying for rooms at the tavern like they would normally and they happily accepted.

We headed through the main road into town, past the shops and houses and out around the back where my ranch lay nestled at the foot of a small mountain range. It was an hour out from town and the horses felt like they were ready to collapse when we reached the double gate to the yard. We went under the overhanging sign that said 'Chase Ranch' and I led the men round the back to the stables were I heard a commotion in the barn.

I shouted out. "Annie?"

More commotion as a red cheeked pretty young woman with brown curls escaping her pony tail and bright green eyes came rushing out followed by my younger brother Willy.

"Miss Cally is that you?!" She shouted as she rounded the corner and came face to face with a hoard of military men and horses. She stopped dead and Willy almost ran into her as she stared at us before her eyes came to rest upon me.

"Oh Miss Cally it is you, I barely recognised you in that there uniform! Heavens be blessed your home we've all been missin' you something frightful."

"Cally, what on earth-" Started William before she batted him away.

She walked forwards and dipped her head to the Colonel who let me explain why we were here. She listened quietly before shouting out two names.

Alan, my older brother came round the corner followed by a young girl I had had up to muck stalls before called Lucy. The both stopped short of us and stared wide eyed before shuffling over to Annie who explained the situation.

The Colonel dismounted first and walked over to Alan, grasping his hand firmly and saying. "It is nice to finally meet you Mr Chase, your sister has told us much about you and your family here."

He dipped his head respectfully and replied. "Thank you sir, I welcome you to our home and thank you for looking after my sister."

"Don't you worry, she needed no looking after out at the fort."

"I'd expect as much from her sir." He looked at me and smiled, flashing his teeth as he eyed my uniform.

I dismounted once the Colonel had greeted everyone, I was very proud at how well Lucy handled herself when she was completely terrified by the military men in front of her. As soon as I had walked away from Jesse I was assaulted by my family and friends, first Annie who, teary eyed, bawled about how much she'd missed me and how different I looked and how I looked thinner and how I needed a good fresh supper. Willy managed to prize her away from me before launching himself at me. It had only been a month but it felt like I had been away from them for years, I wonder how badly the rest of the regiment must miss their families.

I gave Lucy a small hug and asked her if Annie had been working her too hard, she shook her head, lost for words as she stared at me like I was a new person, then I made my way to Alan. He held out his hand to shake mine and when I took it he pulled me into a tight bear hug that lifted me off the ground. Before they could barrage me with questions I asked them to get some stalls ready for our horses. They bustled off into the barn and James came over to me.

"Your family have missed you."

"I've missed them too sir, more than I ever realised."

"It will never be easier being away from them, I hope this doesn't change your mind about staying with us."

"No sir, it won't, had I not gotten your offer in a year or two I would have gone to Spain, that's a bit more than a 3 day ride to here." I laughed as we walked the horses towards the freshly bedded stalls.

"You're quite right Miss Chase." He smiled before leading Sampson into the stall next to Jesse's.

We untacked the sweaty horses and rubbed them down with straw and then headed out into the yard, I told Alan that the two horses we had brought with us were to be sold and asked if he knew anyone, he said if we liked he'd take them off our hands and train them up and sell them on for a higher price which pleased the Colonel to no end. We moved off and Annie flitted around us asking questions whilst Willy and Alan followed behind. As the day drew to a close Lucy bid us good night and tacked up her little spotted roping pony so she could ride into town before it got dark, Annie had taken her on as a stable hand after I left and I was pleased to here that she fitted in perfectly, though she was fairly quiet and sometimes a little bit scared of large horses.

Annie let us in and insisted on preparing us supper, she had been staying in the house with Willy to keep an eye on things and sent Willy off to make up the rooms for the night, our house was a large ranch house with many bedrooms and a veranda that went the whole way around the house, it meant that in the evenings we could sit out behind the house and watch the sun behind the mountains.

As Annie cooked and Willy came back down and settled around the table with us I told them about what had happened over the past month, when I came to the part about being inducted into the Army everyone stopped and stared at me like I'd told them I was really a man and had fruit stuffed down my corsage.

Thankfully, James stepped in here and told them about how my work had influenced his men and done wonders for the horses here.

"I reckoned you'd make a splash out there Cally, but never such a big one! What a mighty fine offer you've been given, Pa would be so proud." Exclaimed Willy gleefully as Alan sat there in silence. After what seemed like a long time he looked up at me.

"I don't know what to say Cal, you're my baby sister and the army is the last place I'd put you, but I also know that Pa wanted you out there making a difference and that's exactly what you're doing, so I'm happy for you." He smiled and I felt tears welling up and I swallowed hard, trying to keep myself composed in front of the others.

Supper went down well, Annie truly surpassed herself and the soldiers couldn't stop the compliments rolling about the meal, once everything was finished and James had insisted on washing up we retired to the living room were we talked and dozed in the warmth of the fire.


	26. A Life Left Behind

As we talked around the fire we all began to feel the weight of the days ride bear down on us and one by one we got up and retired. Alan had left early to get home to his wife and daughter, he promised to bring them over tomorrow so I could see my niece before I left. Myself and James were last to go, he came and sat next to me on the sofa and took my hand in his, I shuffled closer and rested my head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'd forgotten just how nice it was here." I mused as his thumb stroke my hand gently.

"I barely remember what it is like to be at home with a family." He stared wistfully out the window into the darkness and I pulled myself up beside him so I was facing him.

"When was the last time you went home?" I stared into his velvet soft eyes and watched him as he spoke.

"I don't have a home anymore Miss Chase, my father disowned me when I joined the army at 19 and my mother died a couple of years later. My father died shortly after, I don't think he could bear to be apart from my mother and it ate him up. I don't have any brothers or sisters and the house got sold and I got left the money."

"What was your house like?" I pressed against him and looked at him, welling up with sadness.

"It was a big manor house with stables behind it, it had an elegant long front lawn and fairly close to town. We had about 20 acres beside the house."

"What was it like living there?"

"Pretty normal I suppose, we were an upper class family, my father was a politician. You'd of thought he'd be thrilled that his son would want to serve his country, quite the opposite. I spent most of my days with my other friends who also wanted to join the army out in the fields playing Cavalry on the horses; I had many fine thoroughbreds that my father had bought me. When I was 16 I used to race them, won a lot of money for my father and he wanted me to stay in the business, but I was getting taller everyday and knew I wasn't meant for that life."

"If you raced thoroughbreds, how did you come across Sampson?"

"One day when I was back in town for a few nights with my commanding officers I went to a local rodeo with my friends and saw Sampson in a pen, a man was shouting about how useless he was and how he wished he'd never bought him and was trying to sell him to them. But Sampson wouldn't buck and the rodeo owner laughed at him, I watched the man lash him with a crop and kick him and try to make him buck to no avail, soon he got so angry he started screaming and I ran over to stop him. I leapt through the bars and grabbed the crop as he went to bring it down on this horse and the man went for me. I overpowered him easily and realised he was very drunk, he slurred some words at me and left, not bothering to take his horse. Sampson was frightened and his quarters were bleeding but he let me catch him, I'd never had much contact with mustangs, my parents called them vermin and wouldn't let me ride them, but I couldn't just leave him. I took him to the tavern we were staying at and I told my Colonel what had happened and he looked Sampson over, he deemed him fit for work and let me bring him back to the fort were we soon formed a close bond. I've had him for 11 years now; he was 3 when I found him."

I sat back and nestled into him, enjoying learning so much about him. He had such a complicated history it was no wonder he was such a tough and high ranking man, he'd overcome so many hardships in his life that the army must seem easy.

As the fire died James sat up and said it was time for us to retire, I agreed and we went off to our separate rooms. My room was the master bedroom; I walked in and found everything just as I had left it, all my horse drawings adorning the walls and my models on the cabinets. Rosettes lined the 2 end posters of my bed from various races, rodeos and other competitions I had won. I sank into my warm comfortable bed and pulled the duvet over myself, _this was a luxury I missed_ , I thought to myself and smiled. I thought of all the things I was giving up and all the things I was gaining in return.

I slept for maybe an hour or two before I woke up, I don't know what woke me but I rolled out of bed and looked out the window, all was quiet and the horses were asleep. I smiled to myself before going downstairs to get a glass of milk; I lit the candle in the holder on my bedside cabinet and crept out of my room in my nightdress.

I came down into the hallway and went into the kitchen, as I poured myself some milk I noticed a flickering light in the living room, as I tiptoed over and peered into the room I saw James sitting in an armchair facing the window with a candle beside him, he was wearing a long nightshirt and trousers, I'd never seen him in anything but his military uniform before.

I walked in and he turned round to see me, he looked away back out of the window as I came up behind him.

"Can't sleep?"

"Just like every other night of my life." He sighed.

I put my candle down and put my hand on his shoulder and ran it down his chest and he rested his head on my arm, lifting his hand up to mine. I took his hand in mine and pulled him up.

"Come and keep me company." I said quickly before my courage failed me, I finished my milk and picked up my candle before blowing his out and leading him up the stairs, at first it seemed like he was going to pull away, but then he followed me quietly to my room.

I silently opened the door to my room and let him in; he took my candle and went to look at my rosettes, making me blush as he smiled at all the blue ribbons.

I took the candle back off him and set it down on my cabinet and climbed into my bed, he came round the other side and got in next to me and I snuggled close to him in the dim light. I rested my head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around me, I ran my hand up his shirt and stroked his smooth chest, feeling every hair and tracing each muscle of his broad body that hid beneath his clothes. He let go of me and unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, dropping it off the bed before wrapping his arms back around me. I looked at his well chiselled frame before I rested my head against his cool skin and smiled, continuing to stroke his chest as the candle burnt down and the darkness surrounded us. As I listened to his gentle breathing he placed his hand upon mine on his chest and there we fell asleep.

I awoke sometime before dawn as James got up in the gloomy light, he stood up and bent down to kiss me gently before picking his shirt up and putting it back on. I watched him with sleep heavy eyes as he let himself out and went back to his room before everyone woke up. As I watched the door close I fell back asleep, letting a smile spread across my face whilst I nestled into the warm part of the bed where he had slept.


	27. Accidental Discovery

Early morning light filtered through my window and birdsong filled my head as I woke up, I stretched and yawned wide and looked around me, then remembered last night and smiled. I got up and looked outside, it was nearly 7 o'clock by the looks of things and I got dressed in my uniform and sauntered downstairs to the smell of freshly cooked breakfast.

"Good morning Miss Cally." Came the cheery voice of Annie who was tucking into the breakfast she had just made, another plate rested at an empty seat and she motioned with her fork for me to sit down.

"Everyone else is off doing their duties so it's only us for breakfast today." She said in between mouthfuls.

"Have they been up long?"

No m'am, apart from the Colonel, goodness knows how long he's been awake, I heard him up at first light. I wondered what it was and looked out to see him going into his room."

I bit back a smile as I remembered sleeping against his warm body last night and Annie watched me, we'd been friends for as long as I could remember and not much escaped her keen eyes.

"Do you know what he was doing out of bed so early Cally?" She eyed me closely and I shook my head.

"Why do I get the feeling you ain't telling the truth."

"I don't know, because you're paranoid."

"Don't think I don't see the way he looks at you missy."

I went red with embarrassment and guilt and stared down at my food.

"Come on now Cal, we've been friends a long time, ain't no one else here, what're you hiding from me?"

She shifted to the seat in between us and pulled her food over so she was sitting next to me, she stared intently at me and I quailed under her scrutinizing glare.

"I'm not hiding anything, I'm just choosing not to speak about it."

"It? So there is something!" She jabbed her fork in my direction and I flustered about with my food. "Tell tell tell or I'll go running out into the barn shouting things which ain't rightly true."

I looked up at her miserably defeated and replied. "He stayed in my room last night."

"I already knew that, I saw him leave."

I scowled at her and stabbed my food whilst staring at her devilish grin.

"Come on, what's going on there?"

"I don't know, honestly I don't," I said as she glared harder at me, "it just sort of happened, he invited me to dinner in his quarters a week or two ago and at the end he confessed that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about me. I was shocked and didn't know what to say so I didn't, then a couple of nights later I found him up on the upper tier watching the sunset and we had a moment."

"A moment?" She interrupted.

"Well, we were talking about what I was to do and if I was to leave and I just sorta stepped into his arms without thinking, it was sunset and I don't know I just did it. Then we went out on a patrol together and we were talking whilst I was on my watch when the others were asleep and he kissed me."

Annie raised her eyebrows in surprise and waited for me to carry on.

"Then I fell asleep in Jesse's stall after I fell of my mustang and I woke up to see him watching, he helped me up and I was so battered I fell straight into his arms and he kissed me again."

She waited in silence so I begrudgingly carried on.

"Then I woke up last night and went to get a glass of milk and he was downstairs and couldn't sleep, so I asked him to come keep my company."

"And...?"

"He came up to my room and we cuddled up and went to sleep, then he got up early this morning and went back to his room so no one would find out. Or so we thought."

"That's it?"

"Yes," I stared her down, "it's not like that with James, he is a gentleman."

"Oh it's James now is it."

"Has been since dinner, out of hours at least."

"Uh huh, so your decision to join the army had nothing to do with him?"

"Oh come now don't be silly, I didn't expect this to happen. I've been presented with an opportunity to live my life, anything else is just a bonus."

"I know, I know I'm just checking you've got your head screwed on straight. So, do you love him?"

"I don't know, I've never been in love before."

"Has he?"

"I don't know, he is a very private man, had a lot of bad things happen to him."

"Well now, the young entrepreneur of the Chase breaking business runs off to join the Army and falls head over heels for her Colonel. Sounds like something that should be in a book, I have to admit, not that I don't love my Willy with all my heart, there ain't nothing like a man in tight breeches and black boots to set your eyes on fire, don't get them sort round here often." She winked at me.

I laughed at her and sighed, it truly was like a story from a romance novel.

"If it helps at all, I'd say by the way he looks at you that he loves you, even if he doesn't realise it yet."

I stared at her with my mouth open, I had nothing to reply to that.

"Well, Miss Cally, enough gossiping, time to go see to your horses." She said with another devilish grin and collected my plate with hers and put it in the sink, she bustled me up and out into the morning sun without another word.

 _They should employ her in the army, she'd extract any information they needed out of any captives,_ I laughed to myself as she pushed me along to the barn.


	28. Taking a Ride

As we came out to the barn Alan was riding up on his blanket spotted appaloosa mustang mare Sally and Willy was in the barn mucking out stalls. Most of the horses were out at pasture getting ready to be put out in the mountains once the weather cooled off so not much work was to be done, which meant the workers got a lie in.

All that needed to be done was to muck out the army horses and the workers personal horses, so I got straight in and grabbed a pitch fork to do Jesse's bed. I missed the hard work and dedication I used to give to the ranch and it made me smile to feel my muscles wake up as the weather got hotter, by late morning we had done all the horses and given them a full groom, everyone was shining and glossy, not just the cavalry horses.

When everyone was done I went out to see Dandy in the small pasture, she was an old girl now and was enjoying her retirement, she stayed here all year long with a few sheep to keep her company. I called out to her and she looked up and whickered gently, lumbering over slowly to say hello. I climbed through the rails of the fence and gave her a cuddle, holding her big greying carthorse head in my arms; she leant into me and licked her lips, enjoying the attention. I let her go and offered her some oats which she took graciously from me with velvet lips and I patted her broad neck. Even at a grand old age her cherry bay roan coat glistened in the sunlight, the grey hairs that were spreading over her body glinted and made her look like she was covered in small jewels, she was the mare we had all learnt to ride on and was almost 30 now, only a few years older than me.

Daddy had got her from an auction because he only had cavalry horses and mustangs back then and he wanted to teach Alan to ride, he'd bought her as a gangly ill conformed mix breed for pittance and trained her up in his spare time, she grew from an ugly duckling into a sturdy gal who never put a foot wrong. She was lovely and as I watched her now I felt so happy that she could enjoy a full life with us instead of being forgotten about.

I left Dandy munching on the grass and came back to the main barn and walked round to the arena. Out behind the barn area we had a large arena fenced off, a small corral next to it and lots of odds and ends stacked around it. There were barrels, poles and upright notched fence posts I'd had Daddy make so I could jump the horses. Out behind the arena was a large open field with old logs pulled out and some strapped together and cut up to make hunt jumps and cross country fences. Out the back of the field was a fence line that ran past the base of the small mountain range that ran out into the wilderness, that was the edge of our land, about 30 acres was the field behind the arena, Dandy's paddock was almost 10 and we had another paddock next to hers that was the same. I could see the horses out in the field and picked out which ones were ours and which were clients.

Whilst I was away Alan was the main breaker, he rode just like Pa but was much taller which gave him an advantage on the Thoroughbreds and Appendix horses he was usually asked to work, Willy took the smaller horses, ponies and mustangs that came in and Annie preferred to work them on the ground. The only thing they couldn't do without me was train the rodeo broncs and show horses they used in the displays, races and barrels twice yearly in the big town a days ride away, but they'd recommended a family friend who had a small ranch down a way from the main town, his son was a class rider and loved to run barrels and they gave him lots of work whilst I was gone getting ready for the October rodeo.

I felt happy knowing that the ranch was taken care of, but it also filled me with a deep sadness to know that I was no longer needed. Though it made me feel sure I was doing the right thing, it also scared me to know just how everything had changed in such a short time. Nothing would ever be the same after tonight.

My musings around my old ranch had taken up most of my time, it was soon lunch time and I heard the tell tale sound of hooves as the army men returned from their days work. They came bearing many supplies laden in their saddle bags ready to take back to the fort and a few pieces of paper rolled up sticking out the top of the bags. I ran over to greet them and help take the horses in as they happily told me about how the day had gone. They'd met up with the army officials who were staying at the tavern and got all the supplies they needed and more, tomorrow we would be off early to get back to the fort in good time.

Once the horses were away Alan came out to show us the two horses that might be good for the army, one was a black Thoroughbred and the other a dark bay Quarter Horse, they were both taken on by Alan to sell as they weren't fast enough for racing/good enough for roping. He brought them out into the arena one by one in a Western saddle and bridle and rode them round, showing off their well mannered paces and gentle movements.

Once he had ridden them both he tied them up to the arena fence and James asked me to ride them for him. I got on the black thoroughbred who eyed me blearily, he was much content on dozing in the midday sun and was not at all interested in me.

We rode around and he moved perfectly, if incredibly slowly. He leant hard onto the bridle and worked into my aids, constantly biting his curb bit and moving like he was made of wood. He sure wouldn't be any good for racing, but for military service he was perfect.

After him the Quarter Horse felt fiery and rough, but he was gentle enough. Faster than the thoroughbred with rangier strides considering he was smaller, he pulled forwards like a steam train, completely on the forehand but he didn't bolt or lean. His brakes were easy and his movement was calm, he just enjoyed the work. He didn't turn or back up too good but Alan had been working well with him to make his reverse just as easy as his forward movement; with a bit of schooling he'd be perfect.

I got off and congratulated my brother on such wonderful finds; we put them away then led out the two army horses we had brought to sell.

The first horse had a flighty uneasy temperament, he didn't keep his weight and jittered about at anything and everything he could see around him, he was big and strong and would make a great racehorse or a hurdles horse, all he wanted to do was gallop in a straight line and the only time he wasn't faint of heart was when pointed at a fence.

Alan held him in an iron grip and every time he snatched the reins, Alan dropped them. The horse, waiting for his rider to fight him for his head leant forwards and almost fell over when the pressure against his head stopped. Normally by now the rider would be holding on for dear life and he would be careering across the arena, but with nothing to fight against he just stopped and stood confused. He would be easy enough to sort out, but his scaredy-cat temperament meant he would be no good in battle.

The second horse was older and had no will to work, he stood stubborn as a mule as Alan worked him, he frustrated everyone back at the fort and didn't enjoy his work, even pumped full of oats he just plodded along. He needed lots of trail work and jump work to give him a lust for exercise again.

Once the riding was over and the horses put away, Alan came over to us and shook the Colonel's hand, he'd take them in exchange for the horses he had shown us and declined the Colonel's offer who was saying that the horses we were getting were worth more than the ones we were giving. Alan refused point blank saying once the horses were worked he could make good money off them, probably twice what they're worth now.

After exchanging papers of sale we all headed into the house for lunch and something to drink. The day was turning out to be incredibly hot and once lunch was finished I announced I was going to take Charlie, one of our barrel racing ponies, out for a trail into the mountains as a sorta last ride at home.

I walked out to the pasture and rattled a bucket with a small amount of grain in it, some 40 odd horses came galloping over, then there was little Charlie trotting along behind the bigger horses, his leopard spotted coat glistening in the dusty light.

As I haltered him and led him out of the gate I saw James walking towards me.

"The men are heading out to do business in the town and I wondered if you would like some company on your ride?"

"That would be wonderful." I beamed at him and turned to tie Charlie to the gate.

"Do you have anything that can be ridden English?"

"Why we have just the thing sir." I smiled and turned to grab another rope halter off the fence and went back into the pasture. I led out a chestnut thoroughbred mare called She's A Storm, or Storm for short, that had once been a racehorse, she retired early to be a brood mare but didn't take to foals so now we had her for local races, she rode English and Western and was a wonderful girl to ride.

He took the rope from me and we headed to the barn where we tacked up. Once mounted, I lead the way around the back of the arena and into the pasture. Charlie trotted off eagerly through the gate and Stormy flicked her ears in joy at the idea of a trail. Once we'd covered half the field in trot I asked Charlie on to canter, at not even 14 hands Charlie was small, short backed, thick necked and had a rump the size of a water barrel. His strides were tiny and choppy and his turns were like sitting on a hare. Storm soon over took Charlie and James grinned at me as he passed me, Charlie tossed his head and squealed, kicking up his heels and ploughing forwards. We reined them in and I tracked right to a line of hurdles down the side of the fence line.

I looked back at James and raised an eyebrow, he smiled at me before pushing Storm past me towards the hurdles, they were about 4 feet high at the highest, a bit smaller for some and there was a line of 4 of them which gained in height each time.

"I hope your pony has springs in his legs Miss Chase." He shouted over his shoulder as Storm locked on to the hurdles, every bit a racehorse as she once was.

Though Charlie was small, he could jump like a stag and we'd beaten many ex racehorses in local races and competitions, we ploughed towards the jumps next to Storm's steady smooth movement and James folded perfectly over her back as she took the first hurdle, which was only about 3 feet high, pushing his hands up her smooth neck and sitting back up as her front hooves hit the ground. I sat straight in the saddle and let Charlie do the work, I was in western and folding over a fence in that meant a stomach full of saddle horn.

Charlie's knees lifted higher and higher as he got excited, he bounced up and down in canter and at the last second threw himself into the air, reminding me of Bailey when he jumped out of the corral. I was used to Charlie's jump but it still always caught me off guard no matter how much I prepared.

We hit the ground just behind Storm and she took off early, her long slim legs carrying her over the second hurdle like it was nothing. Charlie cleared the gap between us with his tiny fast stride and came soaring up next to her, hitting the ground with a large thud as she landed neatly like a cat. Before James could take in what was happening Charlie had over taken storm and thrown himself over the third hurdle. As I heard Storm land behind us Charlie dived into the last hurdle, getting so close he could almost touch the brushes and leapt up into an almighty leap, his back end went up above his front and we hung in the air for a second, I let go of his reins and leant back as we came hurtling back to earth, he grunted as he hit the hard floor and threw his head up to balance himself out, his ears forwards and his eyes glistening with joy.

Storm landed next to me with a bemused Colonel on top. He pulled Storm up and patted her neck, even in this heat both horses were at peak fitness and were barely sweating. He looked Charlie up and down and laughed.

"He really does have springs."

"Don't underestimate the little people, they'll always surprise you." I laughed as we walked towards the end gate that led into the mountains. I could see yet again that he was rethinking everything he thought he knew before I arrived.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine in the mountains; we didn't speak much and just enjoyed each other's company. As the air began to cool we took the horses back into the pasture were we untacked them and carried the tack back to the barn.


	29. Back Home, the New Home

The last night was a joyful one, Alan brought his wife and daughter over for supper and everyone spent the evening chatting, telling jokes and swapping stories. Even with the military in the house it didn't feel uncomfortable at all; I got to spend some time with my wonderful baby niece Darcy and caught up with Katherine, Alan's wife. We all went to bed at a respectable hour as we were up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

I fell into a deep sleep in my bed, curled up under my blankets and revelling in my last night of luxury. I was asleep for a few hours before waking up, wondering what had awoken me I looked around my room in the dark, after a few seconds I realised someone was standing on the inside of my door.

James came over to my bedside and I sat up, my hair falling all over the place. He sat down and pushed the hair back from my face and without a word pulled me into a gentle embrace. He kissed me sweetly and held me close, I felt him kiss my hair and I snuggled in close to him, letting the outside world fall away. We lay there like that for some time, not speaking, just being close to each other before my eyelids grew heavy and James's gentle breathing helped me fall asleep.

When I woke again it was nearly dawn and the first rays of light were spilling across the horizon, everything was quiet and I was alone in my room. I wondered if last night had been a dream as I reached over to my bedside cabinet to pick up my glass of water I kept in my room at night, as I groped about blearily my hand came to rest on something unfamiliar, I picked it up and found a flower, one from the vase full of wild flowers in the kitchen.

I held it close to my face so I could smell it and smiled, a feeling of contempt filling my whole body, I placed it into the glass of water and got dressed and came downstairs. No one else was in the house so I went out to the barn to see Jesse, the air was still cool in the dim light and I pulled my jacket closer as I peered out into the gloom.

I walked round to the barn and the door was open, I could hear a voice from inside so crept up to the barn door. I recognised James's voice as I approached.

"I don't know what I'm doing Sampson," I could hear his quiet voice as I peered round the door to see him tacking up Sampson, the saddle resting on the bars of the stall. "Last night I woke up from my night terrors and all I could think was I **need** to be with her."

My breath caught and my heart stopped as I realised he was talking about me; I pulled back from the door and leant against the barn wall, waiting to hear what else he would say.

"I honestly don't know, I didn't expect this and I don't know what to make of it. I am worried people will think me devious in my intentions of asking her into the army if they knew my feelings for her, but I asked her whole heartedly without any ill purpose, I never expected to feel this way about her when I first met her, I asked her because I knew she would be good for this army, nothing more."

I peeked into see him stroking Sampson's neck, his horse's ears flicking backwards and forwards as if he was listening.

"You know, sometimes I think I'm wrong, we're wrong, everything we've been taught and grown up with. Ever since she turned up I've been forced to rethink everything, especially what I thought I knew about horses. Sometimes I think you do understand me, even just a little bit. But then I remember everything I was told, everything that is upheld and I feel ashamed for thinking that way, which in turn makes me feel ashamed for ignoring what seems to be the truth right in front of my eyes. I'm completely at a loss, everything is wrong and different."

I heard him breathe a huge sigh then he patted Sampson on the neck.

"I'm sorry old boy, but no one else will listen to me and not judge me like you. I'd speak to her, but, what if she didn't return my affections or she decided against it, what if she ignored them completely. I know she has returned them, which I don't think I'll ever understand why she would. But what if she doesn't? I can't bear to be apart from her for more than a minute. I don't want to ruin the one thing in my life that feels so right, the last time I felt this right about something was when I chose to join the army."

"I don't know what it is I'm feeling, I've never felt this way before. Any women I've ever met have come last place to the army and horses; nothing has prepared me for this. She has turned my whole world upside down. But what next, what do I do? How does it continue? I feel like any second it is all going to disappear and life will return to the way it was, but I can't live that way anymore, I don't want it to end. I feel like I'm on the edge of a precipice and if I walk back away from the edge whatever is in front of me will disappear, but if I step forwards I'll lose my footing and fall into nonexistence."

"Maybe you just have to take the leap and damn the consequences." I stepped out from the gloom into the barn and I could see the horror on his face as he realised I had been listening. He quickly composed himself but didn't look back to me.

"How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough."

"Cally, Miss Chase, I-"

"Don't, nothing you can say will change the way I feel about you, everything you just said, I feel the same way." I came up to the stall he was in and slipped under the bar of wood that we used to shut the stalls.

He just stood there, motionless, his face dark and shadowed.

"Did you mean what you said?" I moved closer to him.

"Every word. I know it has only been a month, but it feels like a lifetime, like all this time my life hasn't been complete, like I've been waiting for you and now that you're here everything just fits into place, Miss Chase, I-."

"Please, don't call me that James."

"Calisa."

I smiled as I looked into his eyes and saw the same love and compassion I see in my brother's eyes when they look at their loved ones, but his eyes were haunted still. I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to me; he wrapped his arms around my waist and without warning shifted me round and lifted me up onto Sampson's back. His back was broad and muscled under me, he felt nothing like Jesse bareback. Without a seconds wait he lifted himself up behind me and put his arms around my waist again. He leant over my shoulder and kissed my cheek then leant forwards and gathered up Sampson's reins, Sampson moved forwards and as James's clicked, Sampson nudged the bar of the stall up and off its holdings, then he stepped over it and together we walked out of the barn and into the sunrise.

He stood Sampson up just outside the barn and we watched the sunrise, listening intently for any sounds from the house, all was quiet but they would be awake soon ready to leave for the fort. He let go of Sampson's reins with one hand and wrapped it around me, holding me close to him. After what felt like hours, though it could have only been about 10 minutes, we heard sounds from inside the house.

With one hand still around my waist he clicked to Sampson and steered him round back to the barn, once we were back in Sampson's stall James slipped off his back and came round to me. He put his hands around me and lifted me off, I placed my hands on his shoulders and as I slid off he stepped backwards and held me there, my legs dangling off the ground. I let my arms slide around his neck and kissed him, closing my eyes to the world around us as he gently set me down without breaking contact.

I knew then that I could never bear to be apart from him and that though my decision was not based on that, it made it unwavering and steeled that I was doing the right thing and would not regret it. We parted slowly as we heard sounds outside and I jumped over the wall of Sampson's stall and into Jesse's where I set about grooming him and pulling his tack onto the bars of the wall.

The Lieutenant entered first, followed behind by the other two officers and we tacked up, filled our saddle bags and walked the horses out into the early morning light, we went just ahead of the other officers who had arrived after us.

Annie and William were at the door to the house, when we came out they hurried over to say goodbye. Willy pulled me into a tight hug and kissed me on the cheek.

"Take care big sis; don't go starting any fights because I don't think these poor men would survive a beating from you. I love you to pieces and I hope you write to us." He kissed me again and I hugged him tighter. I'd miss him so.

Annie pulled him aside and drew me into an even tighter hug, I could feel tears sliding down her cheeks onto mine and she whispered in my ear. "I hope you'll be as happy as me and Willy are," then raising her voice slightly, "you're the sister I never had and I love you as such, you take care and show these army men what women are made of."

She let me go and her and Willy walked over to James, Willy shook his hand and thanked him for everything the army was doing for me and James thanked him for his hospitality and kindness, then Annie took his hand and shook it, but before she let it go she leaned in and said quietly so that only myself and Willy could hear before the soldiers covered the ground between us.

"You take care of her you hear, nothing escapes me. You be good to her and never let her come to any harm."

A look of shock passed his face before he smirked, I looked at Willy who stared, confused as the realisation slowly dawned on him and he looked at me with narrowed bewildered eyes.

"You have my word as a soldier, and as a man, I will never let anyone hurt her and I will never hurt her myself." He looked back at me with intense eyes and Annie slowly released his hand.

The soldiers came up behind us and Annie stepped back before saying loudly. "Thank you for staying with us and I hope your journey back is a safe one, good luck to you Cal and may god be ever with you." I smiled at her, trying not to grin at the shock I had seen on James's face. Willy continued to stare from me to James and back again until Annie elbowed him in the ribs, James smiled at him then looked at me before moving back to put his foot in Sampson's stirrup.

We mounted up one by one and headed out to the town to meet up with the army officials and make the long journey to the fort, home, my new home.


	30. An Unbroken Spirit

We made good time on the way back to the fort, nothing of much interest happened except the army officials undisguised shock and contempt that there was a woman with them, a woman in military uniform no less. Luckily, neither was brave enough to challenge the subject against the Colonel, they both didn't have the guts. Nobody questioned him.

We approached the gates just before supper on the third day and as I walked through them I could see there were a few faces who had obviously expected me to stay in town. I just kept smiling and walked Jesse through the mill of soldiers and waited to dismount. I was shattered and after supper I went straight to bed after saying goodnight to Jesse and Sampson and giving them both a handful of oats.

I awoke with a start, jolt upright in my bed, I looked around, my mind jumbled and incoherent from sleep. What had awoken me at this hour? It was pitch black outside.

Then I heard it, a long low howl of a wolf. I froze and listened to the longing in its voice, then from the other side of the fort, out across the open plains came another howl, answering the call.

I got up and put on my clothes, I loved to hear wolf song even though it put a chill through my bones every time. I stepped outside my bunk and into darkness; it must have been a few hours before dawn. I stood and listened to the calls, after a few calls and answers a whole pack's song rose up into the night from the forest. I pondered about it being the pack whose territory we had passed through on patrol.

More howls arose, their calls lighting up the desolate night and I listened in wonderment.

Soon everything was quiet; I could see the sentries walking around listening as well. Then I heard a thud, quiet and muted, from near the gates. Another thud, this time from the back of the fort. I whirled around and looked for the source of the sound when I heard something whistle through the air, thud, another whistle, and another thud.

A cold icy feeling prickled down my spine and I went over to the courtyard by the gates. As I walked closer I could hear a dripping noise from the tier above, when I reached it, a dark pool was dripping off the platform, I leant down and squinted against the dark as I touched my hands to it. Warmth. Oh god.

I looked up to see the sentries head lolling over the side of the platform and heard another whistle. They were arrows, those hadn't been wolves. We were under attack.

I ran from the sentry post and was about to scream when I heard something hit the ground behind me. I turned around to come face to face with an arrow, pointed at my heart. I held my breath as for a heart beat the arrow trained on me, the line taught as the bearer got ready to release it. Then they put down the arrow and stepped closer, I went to step back and they said.

"Rider of the Dark One."

I stood motionless as Little Creek came to stand in front of me, staring in horror at my military uniform.

Two more men dropped off the sentry post above and came to stand behind Little Creek, their eyes covered in black war paint and their faces smudged with dirt to conceal themselves. I held my hands up as they advanced on me and one grabbed my wrist.

"Why are you here?" I heard the accusing tone of Little Creek as they pressed me back a step.

"Because of the Mustangs." I answered in their native tongue, much to the other Indian's surprise.

They looked me up and down before the one holding me bound my wrists, the other training his arrow upon me.

"Why are you here?" I asked quietly, fighting to get my wrists free.

"Because of the Mustangs."

He turned to the other two. "Don't kill her, bring her with us." Then he pushed past me to the stables, I tried to follow but I got an arrow pushed towards my throat.

I eyed my surroundings wildly, I could scream and alert the others, but they might kill me, or I could try and cause a commotion and get free of the arrow. Behind me I heard Little Creek shushing the horses as he opened the doors to the stables one by one. Five or six more Indians dropped in and went to open the gate, I chanced a slight look behind me and they pressed the arrow closer to me. I knew I should be happy that they were freeing the mustangs, but they'd just killed 3 innocent men to do it, probably more as I couldn't see or hear the other sentries, I waited until the horses' doors were opened, hopefully, the horses would get loose and disappear once the fighting started.

It was now or never, I shifted round slightly so my back was to James's quarters, I put my bound hands up and hit my captor's wrist, at the same time as I did it I dropped to the floor and they loosed their arrow because I jarred their arm, right on target the arrow whistled through James's open window and landed with a dull thud in the wall of his bunk. Before I could get a chance to look round my captor grabbed my wrists and pulled me into him. He called out to Little Creek by making the sound of an owl and backed towards the now opening gates. I heard movement in James's bunk and one of the Indians raised their bow to his door.

"James they're in the fort!" I screamed as my captor dragged me to the floor and put his hand over my mouth. Another Indian rushed forwards and grabbed my arms and together they pulled me to the open gate

The bugle sounded from James's bunk and after a couple of minutes soldiers burst forth from the darkness, rifles ready and revolvers in hand, one of the Indians howled and arrows flew over the top of the ramparts, as they pulled me towards the gates something large cantered past me, buffeting us with wind.

A loud shrill neigh filled the fort as a buckskin mustang cantered into mill of horses being rounded up by soldiers who weren't engaged in combat. It disappeared for a second before bursting forth with Little Creek on its back and Bailey at its heels, behind them the other mustangs poured out into the courtyard and flew towards the gates.

I stared, half in the dirt half off the ground as they flew past me, Little Creek had a rope in his hand and as he passed us flung it to the Indians around me, they grabbed it and a black horse came cantering over to them attached to the rope. Jesse snorted in confusion as without warning they hoisted me onto his back, they pulled Jesse out and I wrapped my bound hands into his mane, we came out of the fort and horses were waiting for their riders, stamping and snorting in excitement.

The horses wheeled round as the Indians leapt on to their steed's backs and pulled Jesse next to them, as soon as they touched their horses backs the horses set off at a gallop away from the fort, I looked around to see 8 or 9 horses and riders galloping next to us in the dark, the front of the group headed by Little Creek and Spirit, the other mustangs fanned out across the open plains behind us.

As we left the fort I heard a roar from inside as James stood in the open gates, his soldiers trying their best to shoot in the darkness.

"James!" I screamed as we galloped into the night.

"Calisa!" I heard him shout back before shod hooves clattered in the darkness.

For a few seconds all I could hear was arrows being loosed, shots being fired and the hooves hitting the dusty earth, then suddenly a thunderous sound came behind us, I looked back to see the Cavalry in pursuit. There was a large distance between us now and I couldn't think or see straight, I concentrated on staying on Jesse and held on tight, I could have jumped off Jesse, but I wasn't going to lose the most precious thing in the world to me, I would just have to stay with them until I could escape. The darkness was all around us as we headed to the forest, we made a sharp left turn and veered towards the river, back behind the fort and I realised we were going to the mountains.

The mountains the other side of the river were vast, dangerous and covered in forests, they went all the way to where the herd was out to the far right of the fort, many days ride from here. And to the left they followed the river to the rail line.

We made it to the river quickly and the horses leapt into the middle of the water and pushed across, it was deeper than the crossing we went through and cold water seeped through my clothes and into my boots as Jesse begrudgingly pressed into the spray.

I could hear the Cavalry behind us but I couldn't see them, they hadn't breached the river by the time we galloped out of it and into the forest. I could hear Jesse's heavy breathing and feel his heart pounding underneath me as we slowed down under the canopy of trees and negotiated our way onto a track cleared enough for us to press on again. When we hit the base of the mountains the forest seemed to come alive as Indians came out from behind trees and bushes, well camouflaged in the dark night. They filled the dense woods, there was more than enough to hold off the army and I realised this must have been what the raiding party was about.

A small group came and raided the supply wagon to put us off the scent of them gathering up warriors to make this daring rescue, they must have been out her for weeks without fires to keep them warm to stop us from finding them. A cold realisation hit me when I understood that they were here to hold the Cavalry off and give the horses and riders enough time to slip into the night and free the rescued Mustangs. The group was large enough to hold off the Cavalry until their backup reached them and that would take an hour or more. James needed to send a messenger back to the fort to get reinforcements or he and his party would be pushed back or worse, killed.

I watched the approaching Indians as we slowed down and took a deep breath.

"James! There's a whole army out here! Fall back and get reinforcements before you reach-." I was cut short as a young Indian warrior pulled me from Jesse and gagged me by tying cloth through my mouth and behind my head. I hoped James had heard me and felt tears sting my eyes as I was hefted back onto Jesse and pulled further into the mountain trails.


	31. No Way Home

After we had made our way out of the forest and into the mountain ranges I waited with baited breath to hear shooting, no sound came and I prayed that James had heard me and was waiting for back up. After what had probably been over an hour I heard gunshots ring off the mountains, each shot fired seemed to explode in my head and all I could think of was how many people would have to die for this, what if James died for this.

We had been riding now for two or three hours and no one had breached the fighting, I knew that once the fight went in the Cavalry's favour the Indians would high tail it out of there in different directions, but I didn't know what would happen if it went in the Indians favour.

Dread, fear and guilt welled up inside me as I bounced along on Jesse's back in the gloom of the start of sunrise. I had wanted Bailey to be free more than anything, but not like this, I'd hoped on day to accidentally let him go when they opened the gates, if I had the guts that is. But Jesse used to be free, he was happy being my partner; Bailey would accept it eventually and live a happy life with me close at hand.

I also knew that I owed Little Creek my life and that he wasn't going to harm me, so what would happen to me, would I stay their captive? For how long?

I closed my eyes against the cool wind and blocked out everything but the sound of hoof beats, I had to stay strong and sharp and hope that everything would be ok.

We had been riding all day and all night, this territory was strange and unfamiliar to me, it was the back route into the territory of Spirit's herd, the one that was a lot harder to navigate and a lot less direct, we kept switching directions and doubling back on ourselves to negotiate the slim tracks through the trees. By evening we had gotten out of the forest and onto open plains and meadows full of long lush grass, we passed herds of deer and at one point a lone mountain lion who hid from us in the tall grass, eyes flashing in the low light.

By dawn we seemed no closer to our destination but at least we stopped to camp. That meant that we must be far enough away from the Cavalry to allow ourselves to rest, my legs felt sore and my back ached from my position on Jesse thanks to my bound hands.

We came to camp in a small meadow under some trees, when we came to a halt everyone dismounted and their horses wandered off to the grass. An Indian man I didn't recognise who had joined us from the group in the forest dragged me roughly from Jesse and onto the floor; he didn't try to help me up and instead seemed to enjoy dumping me in the dirt.

Little Creek turned to him and started to talk harshly in Native American, I couldn't understand every word but it went along the lines of 'she is not the enemy and don't treat her as such', to which he responded 'all white people are the enemy', then there was something said about Jesse and the man came back over to me and pulled me to my feet with a scowl.

Little Creek pushed him away and took out a hunting knife, cutting through the rope that held my wrists together and untied my gag.

"Don't run away, you won't get far out here on your own." I nodded solemnly, rubbing my wrists together, wincing at the cracked and bruised skin from where they had rubbed against the rope.

As he walked away from me I watched him go over to Spirit who was nuzzling Bailey, Bailey was sweating and had his head held low to the floor, he didn't seem to be able to comprehend what had just happened. Little Creek came over to Spirit and he whickered gently, pushing his muzzle into the Indian boy's out stretched hand.

I could almost hear Spirit saying _'thank you'._

I stood and stared and realised I was standing a few feet away from the infamous horse I'd been tracking all those years, I moved closer to him and he flattened his ears at me. I stood fast and to Little Creek's amazement (and mine) Bailey snorted at his father and came over to me, pushing me with his muzzle. I smiled and stroked his soft nose, trying to show that I was sorry that I didn't have any oats with me; Bailey licked my hands and snuffled about my person as someone placed something in my hand. It was a small slice of apple, Little Creek took his hand away and cut off another slice of an apple he got from his satchel and offered it to Spirit as Bailey scoffed the piece in my hand greedily.

With wide eyes and pricked ears Spirit came over to me, his nostrils flared as he inspected me whilst Bailey nuzzled his shoulder. As I watched the two of them, the only differences I could see was their markings, they were the same height, build and had the same face and eyes, apart from Bailey's ice blue eye he had gotten from his mother.

I extended a hand out to Spirit and he sniffed it tentatively before deeming me safe to approach, I touched my fingers to his face and marvelled in his soft smooth fur and long heavy forelock. I was standing in front of the horse who could not be broken, stroking him. Even in such a dire situation I couldn't help but feel incredibly honoured.

A few seconds passed before I remembered Jesse, I turned round and whistled to him. He had been watching me a few feet away and came over at my call. Little Creek passed me another slice of apple and I offered it to him, he went straight past it and over to Spirit.

Spirit dropped his head and arched his neck as Jesse squared up to him and reached out to sniff him, Spirit blew at him and lipped at his muzzle, flattening his ears gently in a sign of submission to the older horse.

The more I looked, the more I stared as I realised they knew each other, James had been right. Jesse was Strider, 'The Dark One', Spirit's father.

As Father stood by Son, the other Mustangs huddled around us a few feet back, Harry, Danny and the chestnut filly Tammy were all together, 3 black Mustangs were also with us, 2 I recognised from the roundup and one that had already been at the fort when I arrived, along with the dun from the roundup, two bay Thoroughbreds who must have gotten mixed up in the commotion and 3 bay Mustangs. All in all 13 horses had escaped with us from the fort, not all of them belonged to Spirit's herd and I didn't know what to make of the Thoroughbreds, I don't think the Thoroughbreds knew what to make of it either.

"Where will all the horses go?" I asked Little Creek.

"I expect the mustangs will all join with Spirit, we will take the Thoroughbreds with us, they wouldn't last a minute in with a mustang herd." I nodded and looked back at the strange sight before me.

Little Creek came up next to me and fixed me with a stern glare.

"Is he broken?"

"Who?"

"Did. They. Break. Him?" He said through gritted teeth.

I returned his gaze and took a deep breath.

"No," Little Creek started to look relieved, "I did."

"What!" He stared me down, red flushing his cheeks as his anger threatened to overflow.

"I didn't have a choice, it was either me, or breaking him the traditional way."

"What do you mean?" Little Creek stopped glaring and looked at me.

"I worked with him using your ways, I gentled him. I was asked to take on all the Mustangs that came with Bailey and break them in."

"Why were you asked to break horses in for the Military?" The glare came back and he looked incredibly formidable, in the years since I had last seen him he had grown into a huge muscled Indian warrior and commanded the respect of all his peers, frankly it was scaring me, but I didn't let it show.

I held his gaze for a second longer before taking a deep breath.

"You remember that I told you I had been tracking the herd?" He nodded. "Well one day when I went to search for the herd they were gone, a month ago they disappeared. I thought something was wrong so returned home and went to the roundup, I was going to ask about it but instead I found Bailey and his herd in a pen."

"Bailey?"

Bailey put his head up in answer to Little Creek's question.

"I'd met the Colonel that night when I heard about Spirit in the bar, and when I found Bailey he saw me talking to him and came over, after a short talk he went away. When the horses were being rounded up for the cavalry they took Bailey and he came over to me and gave me an offer. He'd guessed I was the daughter of William Chase who supplied horses to the military and asked me to come and break horses in for them. In exchange for helping to change the way the horses were treated I would get to watch over Bailey."

He continued to stare at Bailey without making a sound so I continued.

"When I got there I taught them about gentling horses using natural methods, I showed them how to work with horses and train them correctly and they granted me care of all of the horses taken from Spirit's herd. I was to break in and train each of them."

He stared at me for a minute, not knowing whether to believe me or not.

"I couldn't gentle him in exactly how I did at home as it would take weeks, but I did the best I could under the circumstances to keep him from being broken."

Bailey was watching me now and I realised they weren't going to believe me about this, so I grabbed the apple and the knife and sliced another piece off. I walked over to Bailey and he snorted in delight, but instead of giving it to him, I ran my hand up his neck and wrapped it into his mane. He tensed and I asked him to turn his head to me for the apple, when he did I stroked his nose and cooed to him, asking him to please help me show them I hadn't hurt him.

Bailey relaxed and I hoped he understood what I was doing; I took a step back and swung onto his back.

As I landed Bailey lurched forwards and I leant onto his neck and stroked him gently, uttering soothing words into his mane as he snorted.

I waited to see if my rash move had had an ill effect, but Bailey stood there calm as anything after the initial shock subsided.

Spirit touched his son's shoulder with his muzzle, concerned, and Bailey nickered to him quietly, where upon Jesse touched Spirit's shoulder with his muzzle, before coming over to stand next to me and Bailey.

Little Creek looked up at me from the ground, and then looked at Spirit, who started to prance. Little Creek bounced on his toes and ran towards Spirit, leaping into the air and onto his back.

Without looking at me, Spirit dived into a gallop out across the meadow and Bailey followed. With a jolt of terror I remembered the bucking sessions we had had under saddle and got ready to be rodeo'd, but nothing happened, the knot in my stomach undid itself and I whooped into the air, scratching Bailey's neck who neighed and stuck his top lip into the air. Spirit neighed next to us and Little Creek looked over at me, a wide smile on his face as we galloped a wide circle across the meadow.

Little Creek looked down at Spirit and whispered something into one ear; Spirit tossed his head and turned slightly to face a fallen log. Bailey kicked up his heels and followed his father, loosing a couple of bucks that nearly unseated me as his father leapt into the air. As Bailey came upon the log I let go of his mane and lifted my arms into the air, Bailey leapt high above the log and soared across the open space. It felt like we were flying and for a split second I almost believed we were.

We hit the ground and came about, cantering back towards the small cluster of trees we had decided to camp under, as we approached the horses slowed to an abrupt halt in front of the other Indian men.

"Do you still think she is the enemy?!" He barked at the men, they all shook their heads.

We slipped down from our mounts and Bailey pushed me in the back as I walked away after patting him. I turned and stroked his velvet muzzle before sinking into the ground by one of the trees, I was so tired everything just seemed to blur into everything else.

As I lay against the tree Bailey came over to me and sniffed me before sinking to his knees, as Bailey lay down Jesse came round to the other side of me and lay down, dropping his head into my lap. Little Creek joined me and Spirit lay down next to him and Little Creek rested on his back. I turned from the tree and rested against Bailey, pulling Jesse's whole head and neck onto my legs and there I fell asleep, surrounded by a mass of dozing horses and tired Indians.

Try as I might, right then at that moment, I couldn't keep hold of my fears, everything melted away and I let myself enjoy what was going on. I felt completely at a loss of what to do, so instead just let the breeze carry my worries away and I closed my eyes.


	32. A Sorry Situation

I woke up to the sound of horses grazing behind me and looked around, the past couple of day's events suddenly came flooding back to me and I felt tears start to well up. I rubbed my eyes harshly and looked around, Jesse was up and eating a few feet away with the other Mustangs, Bailey was splayed flat out behind me, his giant lungs making me rise and fall as I leant over his chest. Little Creek was still leaning onto Spirit; he had the rest of his apple in his hand and was cutting off slices and offering them to him.

Three of the warriors who had been with us were gone and I guessed they had gone hunting, a small fire smouldered a small way off from the minimal shelter of the cluster of trees. It was small enough not to make too much smoke, so in the daytime sun it might not be seen by anyone following us.

Mixed and confused feelings swelled inside me as I looked around the camp, I was terrified of what was going to happen, but at the same time a calm feeling that I was going to be ok and so was the horses pushed at me. Anger at the deaths of the sentries was marred by the fact that those same sentries had killed Indians just as easily, fear for James and his men swept everything aside and I felt appalled at myself for enjoying this time with the horses when he was out there looking for me. At least, I hoped he was out there, still alive.

I wanted to bang my head against something to get some relief from the mass of feelings threatening to keel me over; instead, I got up from Bailey's side, gave him a kiss on his soft nose and walked out into the meadow. When I was far enough away from the Indians to give me some privacy, but not far enough away to cause them concern I sat down in the dirt and picked at the grass in frustration.

I knew I felt more at home here than I did at the fort, but I wasn't about to give it up to go and live a rogue life with a tribe all because I'd been awake at the wrong time.

_If I hadn't been awake at that time, more people would have died._

It didn't make me feel one tiny bit better, but it was something.

This would all be so much easier to deal with if James wasn't involved, why did it have to happen like this. He would take it out of the tribe's people for what had gone on, but because I was involved he'd be even more dangerous. I shook my head and put it in my hands as hot tears came rolling down my cheeks and into my hands, how could I feel such different things in such a small amount of time, it was something I had never experienced before and it frightened me almost as much as what was going on here.

I sat there for however long, my body shaking as I cried silently, the dirt underneath my chin becoming wet from my tears. I felt so vulnerable, so small and insignificant that I couldn't do anything. I'd never felt so out of control my whole life, I always knew what I was doing, I was always strong and confident even when I was scared out of my wits. But now, now this was a whole new thing to comprehend. I'd gotten involved in a war that had been going on before I was born and now I was paying the price.

Once my body started to settle and my tears lessened as I had exhausted myself I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked up to see Little Creek, his face lined with concern as he sat down next to me.

We sat there for a moment in silence, neither wanting to approach the subject, then finally he spoke.

"I'm sorry we took you and the horses."

"It's not that." I sniffed quietly.

"What is it then?"

"I'm scared of how many people are going to die for this."

"Whether you understand or not, something like this would have happened with or without the horses, our people will not stand to be oppressed and driven from our homes and lands and the military will not suffer us lightly."

I nodded, I knew as well as he did but I still couldn't make myself feel any better.

"I don't know what to feel, I want to feel happy that Bailey is free, it's all I wanted, that's why I joined the military to protect him. But because of this you and the Colonel are going to have to fight again, you barely escaped last time."

Little Creek looked away at my last sentence and without looking at me he spoke.

"I'd rather be the one to fight him than someone who doesn't know what he is capable of, we've survived before and we will do it again." He looked out towards Spirit and I realised he was ready to fight just as much as his rider was for the freedom of the horses.

"You changed him you know."

Now he returned his gaze to me, he looked puzzled.

"The Colonel, your fight for freedom changed him, it bettered him, and it changed everyone who was there that day you leapt from the plateau. He isn't the man everyone thinks he is, he is a good man but to push him is dangerous, it wouldn't take much for his old ways to return."

"He still frightens and kills our people."

"You and your people killed 3 of our people to get these horses, and injured however many more escaping."

Little Creek looked down at the floor as he took in my words.

"He is doing what he is told, but since your fight, he has killed less and just tried to scare you into submission, he doesn't want to kill like he used to. He just doesn't understand you and that is more frightening to men than the thought of war or death."

"That doesn't make it alright."

"Neither does what you did but you still did it, you and he are more similar than you think. You'll do whatever it takes to protect what you love. You love the horses and your people; he loves the people and the country his army protects."

"Protects them from what!" Anger filled his voice as he spoke.

"I don't know why this war started against you, I wish both sides could just live happily but the world doesn't work like that. They believe they are protecting the people from harm, you believe by attacking them you are doing the same. Both sides are guilty, even if one is less guilty than the other."

"If he had his way we would all be dead."

"If that was really true, you wouldn't be alive right now."

Little Creek looked up, lost for words as he processed what I had said, frustration creased his brow as he realised what I was saying was true.

After a short period of silence he spoke again.

"When I saw you among my people, I knew you were like us and you were special, you are not like others of your kind. But when I saw you in this uniform I didn't know what to think. After all you have seen, all you know, why do you still defend him and others of his kind"

"When I met you, I had a respect for the military borne from my father, but nothing more. In this past month I have lived amongst the men you hate so much. They are not who they seem to be, they want to learn, they want to better themselves. If they were as bad as everyone thinks, they wouldn't have asked someone who was friends with the Indians to help them."

Silence enveloped us again as our debate came to another standstill, as I thought over what he had said, it even seemed strange to me that I could defend the military, but it also seemed right that I should. I wasn't defending the whole military, I knew there were those who found glee in killing, but I was defending the people I knew. The people I loved.


	33. The Tribes People

A warrior came over to us and spoke to Little Creek.

"We must break camp before the palefaces make up ground, the blue man will come for us."

Little Creek nodded and got up.

"What of the white rider and her dark horse?"

"She comes with us." He stood tall and strode back to the camp without waiting for me to scrabble to my feet. "We leave after we eat, prepare everything."

Whilst we were talking, the men who had been out hunting had returned and were roasting rabbits on a spit over the fire. When they were ready, we ate in silence as everyone contemplated the day ahead; it was late afternoon by the time we left. I was mounted on Jesse with no halter or rope, I was fine to ride him like this but the others were worried I might make a run for it if left unattended.

I contemplated the idea, but I knew we would not get far before being captured or killed, or before we came afoul of some predator or natural trap, we didn't know our surroundings well enough. I didn't want to be bound and gagged again.

5 days and two more camps later we arrived at the Indian village, we had take a maze like route to confuse anyone following, creating large fires far away from the village to make them think we were heading in a different direction. The journey had taken its toll on everyone, including the horses and we were all relieved to see the tell tale smoke from the tepees dotted around the open landscape.

We released the horses just outside the village in the rolling hills covered with plains grass; they eagerly greeted the other horses, some whom Spirit knew well. After a few minutes Spirit trotted back over to us and Little Creek let out a low whistle.

Prancing out from the jumble of tepees came a paint mare with two blue eyes, she neighed as loud as she could when her eyes rested on Spirit and she galloped to meet him. Bailey's head flew up and he loosed a shrill whinny before joining them in their embrace. She nuzzled and fussed over both of them, pulling their manes with her teeth and flicking her ears back and forth in relief.

Spirit called Jesse over to meet Rain and he trotted over eagerly, blowing through his nostrils in delight at their little group. They grazed together in a small huddle away from the other horses, one big happy family.

We were to rest at the camp for the night before moving on to find the herd and escort the horses safely home.

I felt a horrible unease settle over me as I fretted about leading the military to a village full of women and children, We'd be long gone by the time they reached here, if they had figured out our ploy yet, and the village would be moving on to a new resting ground but it takes days to move something so large.

I couldn't sit still and rest, so instead I wandered the village, watching the goings on of their people. Horses milled about in different places, painted on markings showing up blue, red, yellow and green against their natural colours. Most were paints and appaloosas, but there were some solid colours in the midst, many blue eyes could be seen and even one pair of green eyes attached to a champagne coloured mare. I looked over the painted on markings, checking out each horse.

Each handprint marking was for a warrior they had killed in battle, a lighting mark was for speed and a ring for wisdom. An arrow was to show a warriors mount and feathers were woven in and out of tails and manes. Each horse's markings were as unique as their fur and meant everyone knew which horse belonged to which person.

An Indian boy is given a foal at 10 years old, the time they become a man, they grow with the foal and train it themselves to be their personal mount. To give up a horse like that as Little Creek did was unimaginable to me, I could never lose Jesse, he was the most precious thing in the world to me.

Every where I went, wide eyed and terrified stares followed me, and I noticed that two warriors were close at hand at all times. They followed me from a distance everywhere I went. I sighed loudly, no matter who I was, in this uniform I was a threat and frightening to behold. Even the tame wolves that prowled the camp seemed to be wary of me.

I pulled my messed up hair from its pony tail and shook my head wearily, I felt horribly dirty and the sun had given my skin a beating, I decided to go and wash in the river, much to my guards annoyance because they had to turn their backs on me.

When I climbed out from the river and stayed behind some bushes I looked down to find a pile of clothes waiting for me. I looked up and around but I hadn't noticed anyone, my military uniform was gone and I slipped on the deer skin top and breeches. The moccasins were soft and slightly rough on my feet and felt strange to me, everything I was wearing did.

I walked back to the encampment and Little Creek came over to me, he had changed out of his battle wear and was now in the same sort of breeches I was in and was bare-chested, his quiver hanging from a strap across his shoulder.

"Much better, you may still be a paleface, but you no longer look scary."

I smiled and told him to thank who ever it was for the clothes, I asked him where my uniform was and he told me it was being washed and dried.

"In your uniform you were a captive, but in this you are our guest. I'm afraid not all will see you as such but at least they will not expect you tied to a post in a tent. Please do not try to run, or you will be tied to a post or worse, I cannot guarantee your safety here whilst my people know what you are."

I nodded with a grim expression as I thought of being tied to a post and left to the mercy of the Indians.

When the sun went down it was time to celebrate the return of the warriors and horses with a feast. Men and women dressed up as creatures of the wild, eagles, cougars, wolves among others and danced around a huge fire. Music was played in fast tempos as the dances became more intricate and crazed.

In front of them warriors regaled the women and children of the daring rescue and entry of the fort and others sang about the horses being sacred creatures who had come to the earth from the clouds to bring prosperity to their people.

I sat apart from the celebrations, the wide eyes and glares unnerved me. I picked at my food, twirling the wooden bowl around gently as I watched the dancers sing to the fire to ask for good health and safety from the gods.

Even through the beat of the music and the joy of the celebration I couldn't escape my worries and fears, the knot that had left my stomach out on the trails had returned and made my food taste sour. I shivered in the cold and shifted myself so I could rest my head on my knees in the darkness, I didn't understand how anyone could celebrate when the threat of the military seemed so close.

I rocked back and forth as the events of the past month reeled through my head at lightning speed. Every so often they slowed down as the jumbled mess of thoughts turned into a memory of a conversation with James, pangs of longing ran through me and I felt all the more miserable.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Little Creek approaching.

"Why do you sit alone?"

"I don't really feel like celebrating, and I'm not exactly a welcome sight around here."

"Do not let my people's prejudices get to you, you must be strong and hold your head high."

"That's just it, I don't feel strong, I feel weak and helpless and scared."

He crouched down beside me and put his hand on my shoulder as I sat there feeling depressed and pathetic. My thoughts wandered back to my conversation with James over dinner, where he told me how strong I was, I felt like laughing at how wrong he was.

"What if they find the village, what if they find us here, they won't stop to ask questions they will just sweep through here and reclaim everything you took."

"Look around the fire, more and more warriors are returning every hour, we are not helpless."

"I know, but even with a large enough force, people will still get hurt. What do you intend to do once the horses are free? They'll come after you."

"Maybe we will jump another ravine." I could see his smile in the dim flickering light of the fire and laughed.

"I don't think it will have the same effect a second time."

"Wouldn't hurt to try."

I watched his face as he tried to make me feel better and some of my worries started to dissipate, but the main worries and fears remained strong and heavy on me.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you are weak. A person who wasn't scared right now wouldn't be human."

My determination to feel pathetic wavered then and he smiled again.

"Do not let ill feelings eat away at you, they will make you sick, you must rise above it all."

I tried to smile, but my emotions failed me. I just stared at him with an expression of dismay on my face; he stayed crouched for a while before taking his hand off my shoulder and offering it to me. I took it from him and he pulled me to my feet and led me back to the fire, I grabbed my bowl of now cold food as I got up and walked gingerly over to the loud merriment.

Eyes fell on me and I wanted to wriggle out of Little Creeks grip and turn away, but instead, I held my head high and walked into the fray of people. Once we found a space we sat down in front of the hot glow, drinking and talking about nothing of consequence.

I woke in the morning to the smouldering embers of the fire and to many people asleep around it; others were picking things up and clearing away. I got up; leaving Little Creek sprawled out across the warm ground and started to help clear the area.


	34. A Deadly Mistake

By the time we'd cleared away the area around the fire, Little Creek and the other warriors were awake and we went to get ready to leave, I hadn't been told much of what was going on, just to follow them blindly.

I felt a bit happier at the idea of leaving the village and being back out into the wilderness again, facing cougars, snakes and other wild animals seemed a lot more pleasant than the idea of facing a group of distrustful Indians. At least animals didn't have prejudices, they ate you regardless.

We left mid morning; I'd donned my military uniform again now that it was dry, much to the objections of the warriors coming with us. I could have stayed in the clothes I had been given, but if we were being followed I didn't want to think of the cavalry finding me wearing their enemy's clothes.

Spirit, Bailey and Rain headed the procession as we marched out of the village, we were to head east, across the river and back into the mountains to the canyons and plains of South Dakota. Wild horses roam around 26 miles a day, so their territories stretch out for many days in every direction, it was a long ride to find them and I felt terribly glad my hands were no longer bound.

As I sat on Jesse's back a sense of relief, marred slightly by that ever present dread, filled me from head to toe and I finally felt like I could breathe again. When the horses were back in the herd, they would run and get as far away from the military presence as possible. When that was over I hoped I could leave, but I found myself wondering what to do when this was over. I had joined the military for Bailey's sake; with him gone my main purpose was gone.

I could still do good, train, change the ways of their treatment towards horses, but it wouldn't be the same. The idea of leaving James felt awful to me, but I couldn't see where my life would go in the fort. As did the idea of going back to my old life, after this, I could never settle back into something like that again.

Yet again, everything seemed wrong in the world.

It had been over a week since I had been captured and taken from the fort, with each day that passed my self destructive feelings got worse and worse, as we rode in silence the day drew to a close and we set up camp at the edge of a small forest. I slid off Jesse's side and pitched myself into the ground by his legs, I didn't bother moving anywhere, I felt so miserable right here, moving away wouldn't make it any better.

I curled up in a ball on the ground and tried my best not to cry, what was happening to me, nothing made sense anymore. Everything I thought I knew no longer made sense, I felt like I was on a boat in the middle of a storm, reeling through the water, waves crashing over me every few seconds. Holding onto the rigging I tried to keep myself on board, but the boat threatened to tip into the black water around us at any moment.

I could deal with these emotions no more than I could run all the way back to the fort on foot.

***

James paced up and down in the clearing they had settled in to make camp for the night, a large group of soldiers milled around him, their uniforms dusty and some blood stained. He hadn't slept more than an hour or two in about 3 days and try as he might he couldn't get his mind to calm down.

He had fought his way through the ambush of hostiles with such steeled determination that all who crossed his path did not get back up again; he'd forgone his gun in the stead of his falcion that was lashed to his belt. Guns were too slow and not as satisfying as a sword. He let his anger course through his veins as he fought, pushing back the hoards until they scattered like deer. He had heard Cally's warning and sent a messenger to request back up from the fort and waited, when they arrived they attacked the Indians with all their might.

Each night since he had been kept awake in anguish, one of the only things he cared about in his life was gone, after he had promised her family he would keep her safe he had failed.

No longer could he stay the cool, calm and reserved Colonel of an army, he tried his best to keep his emotions in order but he could not stop himself from pacing with worry until he wore a path in the undergrowth. The soldiers learnt to leave him be whilst at camp, lest they have their heads torn off.

They had tracked the Indians west before losing their trail, realising they had yet again been tricked only made his anger worse, now it was tainted by fear of what could happen to Calisa whilst she was with them. Why did they have to take her? He could have easily gone and terrorised the local villages and captured their horses in revenge for the attack on the fort, he could happily have chased those blasted Indians across the entire continent and taken back the horses, but now they had the upper hand having kidnapped Cally. He was at their mercy and dwelling on it made him bitter and unapproachable.

But now it seemed their luck had turned, they had picked up the trail and found them heading towards the village that lay at the foot of the Mustang's territory, he knew they would rest at the village for the night before releasing the horses so they passed by the village completely and went deep into the mountains that indicated the edge of the horses land. There they waited for signs that the Indians would pass through, there were not many paths into the territory that weren't easily spotted and marked.

That night, they had spotted a trail of smoke signalling a fire and camp east of their position and now they were bearing down on them as the darkness set in.


	35. An Unexpected Visit

James pulled up Sampson sharply as they came closer to the smoke that was trailing into the air from a meadow at the edge of small woods, the other soldiers stopped short behind him as James held his hand up, he signalled for the group to split into 3 and flank the enemy in case they made a run for it.

As the men dismounted and tied their horses up to a tree James leant forwards on Sampson's saddle and contemplated their next move. He didn't want to risk shooting in case of hitting Cally, it was obvious they had to get as close as they could before doing anything. Then it came to him, from the well trained mind of a military man the plan formed perfectly before his eyes.***

***Cally was still curled in her ball as the men moved around her, Little Creek left her be this time, he could see she needed time.

He stood watching the horses around him and a deep sense of content filled him, he smiled, placing his hands on his hips as he felt the air around him. It was getting warmer the closer they got to the canyons, just beyond them they would find the herd. He expected they were somewhere near the lake, almost in the middle of the territory and one of the safest places to rest in the area. He knew Spirit would have gotten them to stay around the same area as they were when he left.

Spirit looked up, almost as if he could hear Little Creek's thoughts and came over. Little Creek rested a hand on his shoulder as they looked out into the darkness. He wondered about what would come after, like Cally had said. He knew they would be chased down and hunted, he also knew better than to mess with the Colonel, even if they had come to a standstill and learned to respect one another, no one could doubt just how dangerous he was.

He thought back to the events leading up to this intrepid rescue, the day Spirit and his once war horse and partner Rain had turned up in the camp, sweating, heaving and completely distressed. Bailey and his small group had been grazing just over the brow of a hill with a few other horses, away from the main herd who were drinking from a river, when loud noises were heard. Not even the tribes people who watched over the herd had seen it coming. By the time Spirit got to the top of the hill he was looking down on his son in ropes, a large group of wranglers dragging the screaming horse and his companions away.

Spirit had gone after them according to the tribe's people, who had arrived just after, but both he and the warriors were faced with the pale faces and their guns, they had come prepared to take on such a horse, against strict orders to not touch the herd they left Spirit and Rain alone, his son being a worthy replacement. Spirit had obviously realised he couldn't do this on his own and had taken off with Rain to find him.

The warriors followed him to explain the situation and together with them his people had devised the plan to rescue the horses and liberate them.

As he was lost in his thoughts, Spirit turned round and nuzzled his chest.

"Don't worry old friend, we will make everything right again." He said quietly, looking into the horses deep intelligent eyes. He could never let anything happen to this horse, or his family. They meant more to Little Creek than life itself.

They stood together in silence for a while, the shapes in the darkness growing ever less distinguishable, when one of the horses picked their heads up. The chestnut filly Tammy, a twitchy, nervous mare who had suffered the army with unhidden disgust was staring off into the darkness at something.

At first Little Creek just looked, wondering if she had noticed an animal in the gloom, but then the other horses picked their heads up and looked around the camp. Spirit's shoulder twitched where Little Creek's hand was and he removed it as Spirit pricked his ears towards the other horses, blowing through his nostrils in confused tension.

The air suddenly seemed static and taught, you could hear the quietest sound. As that tension became unbearable, the sound of a gun's safety trigger being pulled sounded from the darkness.

***

Cally rolled up from her huddled position in the dirt as she watched the horses become unsettled, first Tammy, then one of the bay mustangs, then the whole group. She looked behind her to where Little Creek and Spirit had been standing and both were staring at the horses with faces full of worry.

She pushed herself off the ground and stood up, narrowing her eyes and looking round to the source of the disturbance but seeing and hearing nothing. Not for the first time she wished she had the heightened senses of a horse.

***

James dismounted from Sampson once his men were in position, he kept them silent with a hand gesture and he left Sampson ground tied, his reins over his head and onto the floor, the horse believing he was tied to the floor and therefore not going to wander off, not that Sampson ever would.

He pulled his revolver out of it's holster and pointed it at the figures around the camp fire, he could make out only those closest to the fire, but luckily for him, the one he was searching for had given his position away easily. Standing by the fire with his hand resting on the buckskin stallion was the Indian boy he'd let live all those years ago.

If he had killed him when he had had the chance this wouldn't be happening right now, what a mistake to think he could reason with these people and treat them like a fellow man. By letting him live he'd brought this upon himself and he cursed it.

He rested his aim on Little Creek and crept forwards, his movements silent and well thought out. Once he was in perfect range, he purposefully took the safety off his gun as loudly as he could, the barrel of his gun pointed at Little Creek's heart.

James held his revolver steady and waited, enjoying the looks of horror passing through the people in the camp. He watched as all of them seemed to hold their breath, he wondered how many were praying. He smiled to himself and started to pull the trigger, as he pushed his finger down gently, he shifted his stance ever so slightly before an almighty bang echoed through the dead of night.

Smoke trailed out from the barrel of his gun and his smile grew wider. _Right on target._


	36. A Dangerous Encounter

A howl ripped through the air as Little Creek dropped to the floor, without thinking I raced over to him and fell to his side as I saw a pool of blood spilling from underneath him.

_Oh god, what am I going to do?_

I looked around, terrified as everyone around me raised their bows. I un-tucked my shirt from under my military jacket and ripped a piece from the bottom of it off, holding up Little Creek's arm I wrapped the piece of cloth over the bullet hole in his shoulder and pulled it tight, getting muffled screams and spasms from him in the process.

Once Spirit had recovered from his initial shock he neighed loudly to the other horses that were freaking out and then sank to his knees, when he had dropped completely to the ground I pulled Little Creek up and onto his back. Little Creek held his wounded arm to his chest and grimaced in pain, blood covering most of his left arm. Spirit got up as gently as he could and we turned back to the danger at hand.

As I stood up I heard someone approach the camp, behind the smoking barrel of a gun stood James.

"I suggest you don't move, I'd hate to have to kill you."

Spirit's ears flattened against his neck and he bared his teeth as Little Creek wrapped his good hand in his mane.

"You're surrounded on all sides; did you really think you could get away from me twice?"

I stood next to Spirit and my heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest, terror mixed with relief and though my heart leapt at seeing James safe, it then plummeted when it saw the look of determination on his face.

Little Creek sat up as straight as he could before speaking, pain lined his voice and he tried his best to ignore it.

"Put the gun down and no one else gets hurt."

James stared at him. "Didn't you hear me? _You are surrounded._ "

"I said, put the gun down." He looked down at me and I suddenly realised exactly what they were going to do, this was going to become difficult. I went to speak but he pleaded with me with his eyes and I kept quiet.

James followed his gaze and then raised one eyebrow.

"You wouldn't hurt her."

"I wouldn't, but they would." As he spoke, the warriors all turned and pointed their bows at me. My heart started pounding harder and my breathing got difficult, what if this went wrong.

James's composure faltered slightly and his voice became a low growl. "Don't you touch her."

"Tell your men to put their weapons down." Little Creek's voice had suddenly become more confident as he watched the Colonel's expression change.

James's face twitched as he watched us and I wondered what he was going to do.

"If you even try to hurt her, I will not miss my target again." He snarled as he kept the gun pointed at Little Creek, then, as if something had clicked in his brain, he lowered his weapon.

Now he pointed it at Spirit.

"Put the gun down!" Little Creek's confidence vanished and Spirit bared his teeth and lashed at the ground with one front leg. Rain stood a few feet away making worried noises, pushing Bailey's flank with her muzzle.

"It seems we have a check mate, give me the girl and we shall continue our chase. Otherwise it ends now."

I looked from one man to the next, both determined not to give in and I felt more fear than I ever had in my entire life.

Little Creek shouted something in Native American and the men lowered their bows slightly, but kept the arrows taught.

"Put the gun down and we'll give you the girl."

James smiled ever so slightly and lowered his gun; he had no intention of keeping this clean.

I went to walk forwards when Little Creek spoke to me in Native American.

"I'm really sorry Cally." I stopped and turned back to him in confusion as he yelled something to the men. I hadn't noticed, but throughout the standstill the horses had been moving ever closer to their riders, that must have been what Spirit called to them.

"MOUNT UP!" Little Creek screamed, still in Native American to confuse the soldiers and as the men swung onto the horses he grabbed me and pulled me up behind him on Spirit as the horse leapt into the air, he ran straight for James and James had to dive out of the way to avoid Spirit's thundering hooves.

Shots rang off from all sides but one and the horses veered towards it, in the darkness I could see soldier's guns glinting in the firelight and then a shout from behind.

"Don't shoot at them, it's too dark! AFTER THEM!"

Without another word I saw James run into the trees where I guessed the horses were.

We must have gotten about 5 minutes in front of them when soldiers on horseback burst out from all sides of the darkness, trying to herd us into going their way. Luckily for the Indians, their horses, being much better trained were more than happy to ram into the soldier's horses causing spooks, trips and once a fall.

I held on tight to Little Creek as we flew across the open space, skirting the small woods we had been camping by and heading for the canyons. The air grew ever hotter as the sun started to show on the horizon and I thanked god for the light that was coming, riding the canyons was a dangerous game at the best of times, but at night it was deadly.

Right at that moment, I wanted more than anything to scream in joy at the fact that I was riding the famous horse-who-could-not-be-broken, but instead the man I wanted to be with was pursuing my friends with the intention of shooting them. To think I thought fate had dealt me a good hand.


	37. The Chase

We had managed to put some distance in between ourselves and the soldiers, but James never lost even a horse length as we swerved, skidded and switched positions to try and get them off our tail. No matter if the horses rammed into Sampson, kicked out or cut in front of him, Sampson would ram back and pick up speed to keep on us. Compared to the Thoroughbreds, Appendixes and Quarter Horses, nothing could stop a purebred Mustang like Sampson.

I knew that if I stayed on Spirit he would tire too easily, but Jesse was too far away from us for me to risk trying to get to him so I put two of my fingers in my mouth and whistled hard. Bailey was galloping next to us and threw up his head at my call; he evened his paces to match his fathers and inched closer. Spirit slowed down ever so slightly as I leant forwards, using Little Creeks shoulder to steady myself, he looked back at me and saw what I was doing and set his body so I could lean onto it. I touched my hand to Bailey's wither and grabbed a fistful of his mane, leaning ever closer I grabbed more mane with my other hand and pulled my feet onto Spirit's back.

I teetered between the two horses for split second before gathering my courage and launched myself onto Bailey's back; I landed almost on his neck and had to fling my hands around him to stop myself coming off the other side. Bailey whinnied and kicked into the ground, spurring himself on faster and away from Spirit.

I let go of his mane slightly and leant forwards as we gained speed, Spirit pushed on now his burden was lightened and we headed deeper into the territory of Spirit's herd.

As we galloped over the uneven ground a war was going on inside me, one half of me screamed at me to stop, James was right behind me and maybe I could stop him from shooting the Indians. Another half told me to keep going, to save the horses and then go back to him.

I could feel one side losing as I looked back at James, all my feelings for him coming to the surface, the only reason I was running from him was because I had been their captive. I was no longer their captive.

I felt torn two ways, but I knew what I had to do, I looked over to see where Jesse was in the throng of galloping horses and steered Bailey closer to him with my body weight. I could feel him surging underneath me and I wanted nothing more than to enjoy this incredible experience, but instead I shouted out to Jesse.

Jesse looked over at me and we edged closer to each other, we had been running from the military for at least half an hour and the sun was almost up, in the early morning light Jesse's body glistened with sweat from the exertion; soon we wouldn't be able to keep running.

I mirrored my earlier movements from when I jumped onto Bailey and pulled myself onto Jesse's back. Bailey stayed next to me so I leant over and smacked him on the rump, he lurched at my harsh touch and looked back at me before shooting off, looking hurt and confused. As he came up to Spirit Little Creek looked over to me confused.

"Keep going, I'm going to stop them." He looked concerned and saddened, but he nodded as he leant closer to Spirit's neck.

I slowed Jesse down and then leant back and he hauled back on himself and skidded to a stop. I stood him up in the Colonel's path as the thundered across the range towards me, I'd already guessed that they may continue straight past me, but I had to hope I could give the Indians even just a bit of headway.

As the Cavalry hurtled towards me James suddenly realised someone was standing in front of them, with a loud 'woah' he pulled Sampson to a stop before me. Panting heavily, just like his horse he stared at me as the other soldiers slowed up. Regaining himself, he looked round in fury and screamed at them.

"What are you doing?! Get them!" He yelled, flinging his arm in the direction of the retreating Indians.

As the dust settled around us we both just sat there, neither one knowing what to say. James tried to start a sentence and failed, then tried again. I couldn't speak, I'd missed him so much I hadn't even realised how much I needed him.

I tried to smile. "I've never seen you lost for words."

He didn't say anything, but he dismounted from Sampson and walked over to me. He put his arms up to me and I leant down, he pulled me off Jesse and into his arms, I pushed myself against him and felt like crying with relief.

"Calisa I'm so sorry, I promised I'd keep you safe and I failed. I'm so glad you're ok."

I looked up at him and realised just how haggard he looked, he didn't look like he had slept in days. I hugged him tighter to me.

"They didn't hurt you?"

"No, they just wanted to free the horses… I'm so sorry this all happened."

"Why are you apologising?" He almost laughed in relief and held me to him as if I would disappear if he loosened his grip.

"I don't know I just feel so horrible about them taking me, I should have done something."

"Done something, without you we would have had twice the amount of fatalities that we did, let alone running straight into an ambush. We would have been like lambs to the slaughter if it weren't for you; the arrow through my window was a particularly nice touch."

"I had to alert you somehow."

"You were perfect, it's still in my wall, I might keep it there as a reminder of your heroics."

I blushed and pulled away from him slightly, but he tightened his grip and I leant back to look in his face.

"I was so scared when I saw the ambush; I didn't think you would hear me." I looked straight into his eyes and didn't know how long I could control my emotions for, I felt like I wanted to cry and laugh until I couldn't speak anymore.

"It would take more than a few savages to stop me," He looked up at the black spots on the horizon that were the cavalry, "they're taking the horses back to where they came from aren't they?"

"Yes." I couldn't look at him.

"You know we can't let them do that."

I closed my eyes and steeled myself. "Yes."

"Cally," it was the first time I'd ever heard him call me that, "what do you really want?"

It felt like a stone had been dropped into my stomach. "What do you mean."

"You know what I mean, I know you want the horses to be free just as much as they do."

"I don't! I mean… I do, but…" I struggled to find the words. "I thought I did, but Jesse came from the wild, all the mustangs I've ever worked with have so I can't stand here and preach the freedom of horses with a clear conscience. But you issued the order for the stallion's herd to be left alone; I just think that he and his herd deserve a bit more respect than horses who didn't try to fight for their freedom like Spirit did, just as people should."

He looked me over and I could feel his eyes bore into me.

"Why did you accept my offer? Why did you join the army?"

"I wanted to keep Bailey safe, but you know that already." I felt like a child being reprimanded at school.

"Anything else, anything you wanted to do?"

I sighed, there was no point in hiding anything anymore.

"Honestly, at the start I had hoped to accidentally let Bailey go, but the more time I spent in the fort, the less I wanted too."

"Do you want to be with them?" He didn't seem to be able to look at me.

His question took me off guard, I hadn't thought of anything else but being back at the fort.

"The past few days I've spent racking my brains about what is going on, if Bailey is free, the reason I joined the army is gone. I also know that I don't want to go home, and I don't ever want to be apart from you, but I don't want those sorts of things to be the reason I do something with my life. I want to be someone and make something of myself, it used to be just a dream, now I can be something with the army but I still don't know what to do."

"You didn't answer my question,"


	38. A Choice to Make

"You didn't answer my question."

I looked up at him and my words ran dry, I honestly didn't know what to say, he hugged me tighter still and sighed.

"If I were not here, if you had never met me or you had not had feelings for me, what would you be doing right now?"

This time I looked down at my hands that were stroking one of the buttons on his jacket.

"I thought as much, Calisa, if you wish to be somewhere else you shouldn't stay because of someone."

"I know, but it's not that simple."

"What then?"

"If I go with them I'll be an outlaw, I'd be going against the military, and I'd be going against you. I can't just go and be with the Indians; I go where Bailey goes, that much is clear to me. I can't do either thing because of my damned emotions, I can't go after them because I want to stay with you but I can't stay with you because I want to be with them." I balled my hands into fists on his chest and he let go of me, putting his hands over mine and waiting for me to look up.

"Would you believe that I understand perfectly how you feel?"

I looked up at him then and gave him a confused look.

"I want nothing more than to go after them, take the horses back and punish them. But not only have I come to respect that boy and his horse, I don't wish to drag back a horse I specifically ordered to be left alone. I also don't want to hurt you, but regardless I can't ignore my duty and let a group of young Indians take horses from the military. I sometimes wish they had never brought that horse to me, but then I would never have met you."

I dropped my gaze and leant back into him, relenting and letting him pull my fingers into his and holding my hands.

"I can't change who I am or how I feel Calisa."

"Neither can I."

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know, could we not take the horses and leave Spirit and his family?"

"But then where would you go?"

"I don't know…"

"I want to be by your side for the rest of your life, to protect you and care for you and love you. But I will not let my selfish needs go before someone else's, you need to make this choice for yourself. If you want to stay with the herd, I will leave that colt where it belongs, but I cannot leave the Indians who took the horses and I cannot leave the other horses."

"Leave Bailey with his herd, let me come back to the fort and we will work things out from there." I swallowed hard, my heart torn into a million pieces, I didn't know what to do.

"If it gets too much, you can leave whenever you want you know that."

"I know that, let us go and catch the soldiers up."

"What of your friends?"

"What will you do to them?"

"My first thought is to kill them, but I can't do that with a clear conscience, not the boy at least. The only other thing we could do is seize their territory and make them relocate far away from here as punishment for their actions."

I nodded, I couldn't stop him from punishing them, it was the law and his duty, but at least he wouldn't kill them. I went to pull away from him to get on Jesse and he stopped me.

"The soldiers can wait." He said and pulled me closer, leaning down and kissing me.

I pushed my hands up into his hair and took his hat off as we kissed, he smiled and took it from my hand and placed it on my head.

"You look perfect." He laughed and kissed me again, I leant into him and let all my fears melt away as everything disappeared but me, him and the cool breeze.

We broke apart after what felt like forever and he took his hat back before mounting up onto Sampson, I vaulted onto Jesse's back and patted him, hoping he would forgive me for working him into the ground over this ordeal.

We trotted off to let the horse's muscles warm back up before urging them on again, now the soldiers and Indians were nowhere to be seen or heard so we followed the mass of hoof prints that ran along the dusty ground. They had been gone quite a while and it would take a long time to catch up on tired horses.

We stayed silent for most of the ride, neither one of us having anything to say that could make the situation better.


	39. No Going Back

Jesse pricked his ears up as we cantered through the grassy fields; we had entered into the meadows and forests of Spirit's territory almost an hour ago and were still trailing the soldiers. Soon Sampson did the same and we slowed the horses down, realising we had caught the soldiers up, we looked around before hearing slight noises off to the right of us and pushed the horses on until we came out onto the sparse plains and into some of the canyons.

As we reached the mouth of one of the canyons we saw the soldiers, they were barricading the entrance to the dry river bed and sat up at our approach.

"What is going on men?"

"We followed them this far sir and sent some more men around to the exit of the canyon, we were waiting for you to pursue them."

"Very good soldiers, at ease, let us catch them now."

The men parted to let myself and James through and we pushed the horses on into a steady lope across the cracked dusty ground. We heard the skittering of hooves and the shouts of men and as we rounded a corner Little Creek jumped onto Spirit's back and they galloped on ahead of us.

"We have you surrounded, give up now or risk being shot." James yelled at their retreating figures.

"You'll just shoot us anyways!" Little Creek shouted back over his shoulder and ran on.

The horses were fanned out in front and behind him with the warriors, apart from Little Creek's shoulder they seemed to be unharmed and we pressed on after them. I was so worried about what was happening that I could barely keep my thoughts on the task at hand.

Suddenly I heard yells in front of me as Little Creek's group ran into the soldiers the other end of the canyon and I heard thuds as horses and men collided. We came up behind them to see Little Creek wrestle the gun off of one of the soldiers as the other warriors did the same, the horses lashed out and bit at the soldiers legs and arms and more than one man was thrown from his horse in the chaos.

James urged Sampson into the fray and pulled out his revolver, pointing it at Little Creek. I held my breath and wondered if he could stay true to his word.

"Enough!" He shouted, his voice echoing across the canyon and making man and horse sit up and turn to him.

He turned to me and nodded and I pushed Jesse forwards, I spoke in Native American to Little Creek about the Colonel's deal.

"Little Creek, the Colonel has said he will let Bailey and his family go if you return the rest of the horses."

"What happens to us?!"

"You will have to leave this territory with your village and not return."

He looked shocked and stared down at me.

"He is not going to kill us?"

"Not if you obey his commands."

"What would you do Cally?"

I was taken aback at his question, I looked back at James uneasily, glad he couldn't understand what I was saying.

"If there was a chance you could get away, I'd tell you to fight, but there is no other choice here."

He looked around at his men and the soldiers who were itching to be set at each other's throats, to try and fight this one out would be a fatal loss for Little Creek and his friends.

I watched Little Creek chew over what I had said, I knew he wasn't happy about it, but there was nothing more I could do. He turned round and spoke with his friends and then turned back to me.

"We accept your deal." The look on his face made me wonder if he truly meant it.

I turned back to James.

"They'll give back the horses."

"Good," he then looked over to them, "we will be at your village a week after returning to the fort, if you do not leave we will burn it to the ground."

Little Creek shifted on Spirit's back before dipping his head to the Colonel.

"Take the horses men; leave the Indians, the mustang stallion and paint mare and their colt. They are to leave their village or we kill every last one of them."

The men nodded before snatching their weapons back if they had been disarmed and then they roped the remaining horses and dragged them past us. I looked down at the floor as Little Creek stared at me throughout the whole procession.

"I thought you were with us." He said to me in his native tongue.

"I am with you."

"It doesn't seem like it from where I am standing." He replied.

"I got you the deal; they were going to kill you."

"I'd rather die than have to move my people away from the land they love."

"I'm sorry, I can't do anymore. We have to abide by the law and you broke it."

"You don't have to; you could choose to fight it."

James watched us intently and I flustered my words.

"Fight what, you're outnumbered three to one and surrounded, fighting it would only mean you all die for nothing."

"We've come so far and you helped us, whether you admit it or not."

I sighed deeply and my eyes flicked to James before I continued.

"I can't help you anymore without becoming an outlaw myself."

"Is it really worth this?"

"I don't know."

"Is he?" He looked over to James and I froze in place. Of course he'd have noticed, even without how intently they were hunted down by him.

"I don't know." My voice became weak and quiet, I truly hoped he was.

"You belong with us Cally."

"I don't know where I belong anymore."

"I do, come with us."

"I can't, I have a home and family and a job."

"You live in a military fort away from everything you love, come with us and be free."

I shook my head, shutting my eyes tight as if I could shake away what he was saying.

He stared at me once more. "I wish you could see it from where we are standing." He clicked to Spirit and they turned and pushed their way through the soldiers and out of the canyon. I looked down at the ground and felt tears threaten to overflow, why was everything so complicated?

James put his hand on my leg and I looked up at him.

"Come on, it's time to make the long journey home."


	40. The Hardest Decision

The ride home was a silent one, it took us less time to get home than it did to go out of it because we could rest the horses properly and we actually knew where we were going. I didn't get many chances to be alone with James and it felt like a great wall was standing between me and him, I didn't sleep very well and Little Creek's words weighed heavily on me. To no longer know where I belonged was disconcerting and frightening, I thought I knew what I was doing but the past few days had proved otherwise.

We gave the horses a few days rest after that, except the mustangs, they were now perfectly ready to break in without too much of a fight which would save time and injury, especially with something like Tammy.

The first two days home I worked with her the same way I had Bailey, touching her all over with a stick and then my hands and tacking her up, she was so exhausted and my influence calmed her to the point of her not caring too much about what I did with her, but she had a lot of issues with the military men after her first session with them and started to shy away from them. James had noticed and on the third day when I was tacking her up came over to me.

"Miss Chase, do you think this filly will be able to be ridden by a man again?" She pressed against me as he approached and I shook my head.

"Maybe in a few weeks or months, but not now, her nature is too skittish to be of much use until she learns to trust again."

"Would you like to take her as your second horse, as long as she can be broken and trained?"

"Yes, very much so sir."

"It is settled then, you are in need of a second horse now you have joined us, so she is yours all the time you are here."

I dipped my head respectfully and he smiled before walking away, I watched him go and patted Tammy on her neck, much to her disgust.

I led her out to the corral and let her go, fully tacked with a bag of feed draped over the saddle and lashed on and she just stood there, looking around disheartened at the walls hiding the plains from view. Her sorrow tugged at my heart and I thought back to the last conversation I had with Little Creek; what was I doing here so far away from everything I loved.

I loved it here; I couldn't deny that I enjoyed the free rein of working these horses and teaching the soldiers to be kinder riders. But it was still so disciplined and traditional that I felt overcome by it all, I felt myself longing for the days spent out on the plains on Jesse in my western saddle and bridle tracking the herd.

I didn't want to go home, that part of my life was over now and I was ready to move on, but to what I didn't know, that was what was confusing me the most. I didn't want to go and be with the Indians or be with the herd or be at the fort, I literally just had no idea of what I was feeling inside. And on top of that my feelings for James were overwhelming me as well. I just wanted to scream but instead I went about my business as normal.

I chased Tammy on for a bit and she only meekly tried to buck about so I unlashed the bag of feed from her back.

Without taking her to the shoot I put my leg in the tapadero and pulled myself on, she skittered about underneath me and humped about, but didn't try to dislodge me. The time spent with the Indians had brought the mustangs closer to me because Spirit had accepted me and that was making their training a lot easier.

I asked her on and stroked her neck gently, brushing my hands through her hogged mane wishing it were long and flowing, deep red like her body and soft as silk. She sighed underneath me and walked on, lurching every so often and sidestepping unsteadily under my weight. She chomped on the bit unhappily and spit lathered her mouth and dropped onto the floor at regular intervals and I worked her in, trotting all over the place as she staggered around like a foal learning to walk and I decided to leave canter work until she was steadier on her feet. She was the youngest of the mustangs and still unbalanced and ungainly so would find the work harder than the rest.

I spent about 20 minutes on her back before getting off and rubbing her down, I gave her a nice nosebag of oats and let her be and went to see Danny and Harry. It was almost evening now and I wanted to check on them.

I was worried about Harry, he'd struck up a fever over his gelding and the long journey had taken it's toll on them both. Danny's sheath was swelled up but draining fine and was just sore and pudgy from the amount of work he had done. He would be back to normal in a few days but Harry was hot, sweaty and his sheath was inflamed. I'd been giving him cold baths twice a day as well as bran mash to help him but it didn't seem to be getting any better.

When I got to the stall Danny was pacing and I couldn't see Harry so I ran the last few lengths, as I reached the wall I saw Harry on the floor and ran inside, he flicked one ear towards me but didn't even look at me, his breathing was laboured and his sides were dripping with sweat. The straw around his flanks was stained brown from urine and there was droppings all over his legs, he hadn't moved in a long time. He'd been laying down this morning after I bathed him but that was to be expected when he was wet.

I touched my hand to his neck and he twitched violently as if I was hurting him and he snorted, nodding his head half heartedly. He was normally fine to be touched but any place I touched him seemed to cause him a lot of pain, I put my hand to his nostrils and his breath was hot and heavy on my hand and I noticed a small trickle of blood was coming out of the right one. I stood up and called out to a couple of passing soldiers and they ran into the stall.

With their help we rocked him over onto his side and they pinned him down whilst I examined his sheath, it was boiling to the touch and the wound was open and yellow and it smelt worse than it had before, I pressed onto it and fresh pus oozed out from several cracks in the scab but no clear liquid or blood.

I asked them to let him go and then we pushed him to try and get up, he scrabbled about before dropping back down twice and I asked them to fetch me some rope. Once we'd gotten the rope we manoeuvred it underneath him by rolling him about like a giant stuffed toy and he just flopped about, no life in him whatsoever. Once it was under him I tossed it into the rafters of the stable and pulled it back down, I had two pieces of rope, one under his flanks and the other where his girth would go. I shouted for help from some more soldiers and 4 joined us.

I asked them to haul on the rope whilst I pushed Harry to encourage him to get up, after 3 attempts we managed to pull him to his feet and he swayed there unsteadily. I asked them to let go of the ropes gently and as soon as the pressure left he crashed down to the floor, not even trying to stop himself this time, his legs splayed out at odd angles and his head on the floor. He'd given up fighting his fever and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I pulled the rope from under him and tied a halter onto Danny, I led him out and went over to Jesse's stall, tying him to the tie post outside and went to find James.

I explained the situation and he came over and looked Harry over before removing all the horses from the stall, he nodded to me and I dropped to my knees and cradled Harry's head in my hands. James shouted out of the stall to everyone to secure any horses they had with them and be ready for the noise as one of the soldiers put a revolver to the skin behind Harry's eye. I closed my eyes and sang to him softly, stroking his muzzle and trying my best not to let my hands shake.

The gun went off and made me flinch backwards, my eyes shut tight and my hands still on Harry's muzzle as his head dropped into my lap. I opened my eyes to see his fade to black pools and his legs scraped the floor, the shoes making a horrible sound as his muscles continued to twitch long after he was gone. I got up slowly and lowered his head into the straw before the pool of blood reached my legs and backed into James.

He put his hands on my shoulders and led me out of the stall and around to where our bunks where. Once out of sight I fell into his arms and started to cry, my breath coming in great shudders and hot tears pouring out over my cheeks. He stroked my hair softly and rocked me from side to side as I tried my best to control myself but I couldn't. I couldn't bear to see an animal in pain and I couldn't bear to see them die.

"I'm so sorry Cally." He whispered to me as I clutched at him, feeling utterly miserable and completely responsible for losing Harry.

"It's all my fault, he shouldn't have died."

"It's not your fault, no one can stop these things from happening, he wasn't strong enough to fight it anymore, you did the right thing."

"If I hadn't of gelded him..."

"If you hadn't gelded him, or we hadn't bought him he would have gone somewhere were he was probably treated a lot less kindly and wouldn't have made it so far, he would still have been gelded and wouldn't have had you to be there when the time came."

I started breathing deeply; trying to calm myself down and James continued to speak gently to me.

"Not many horses are lucky enough to have someone they love with them when they die, he knew his time was up and you'd done everything you could to keep him with us, he isn't in pain anymore and can now be free again"

I buried my face into his chest and we stayed there until I managed to get a hold of myself again. When I finally felt like I was ok I tried to stand up straight and my legs buckled underneath me, I fell down and James caught me just off the floor, he leant down and let me go onto the floor before looking around. He then sank down next to me and put his arm around me. I leant onto his shoulder and sobbed again, trying to control my breathing but failing miserably.

After a few more minutes I'd exhausted myself crying and could no longer muster any tears, I was still trembling and couldn't get Harry's face out of my head. How could I ever forgive myself, how could I ever defend what had just happened, because of me Harry lost his life and his brother was left alone.

James stood up and offered his hand out to me, I took it and he pulled me up and put his arm around my waist and steered me into his bunk. He opened the door and pushed me inside and sat me down on the bed, he sat next to me and pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair. I buried my head into his chest again, my hand clutching at his jacket and my heart feeling like it was breaking over and over again, we sat there for a while until James spoke again.

"If you want you can finish for today and stay here, it's going to take the men a while to move him and I don't think you want to see it."

"I'm fine, I can't just sit here I'll go mad."

"What do you want to do then?"

"I want to go and see Danny."

"Ok, come on then." He stood up and waited for me to shakily get to my feet and he let me out again, he followed behind me closely in case my legs gave way again and let me walk myself over to where Danny was still tied. Danny was moving about uncomfortably on the tie rope and when he saw my tear stained face he got more upset, I walked up to him and stroked his neck gently, trying to be strong so I wouldn't scare him.

He blew out over me and nudged me harshly, his confusion showing in his eyes. I untied him and walked him out into the courtyard towards his stall; I stopped a few yards off and leant against his shoulder as Danny stared out across the yard. He neighed loudly, his ears pinned forwards waiting to hear a reply, when nothing came he started to paw the ground. James came up beside me and put his hand on my shoulder to steady me as the soldiers pulled Harry's body out of the stall, Danny staggered backwards as the smell of blood hit his nostrils and he started pawing again. I clung on round his neck as his anguish seeped into me and I felt tears coming again.

Horses don't understand death like we do, had I not taken Danny to see Harry's body he may never have realised what had happened, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. They can become so clouded with grief they believe the body is still breathing or they can think they have been abandoned and stop eating. The whites of Danny's eyes showed as he threw his head up into the air over and over again as he watched them hitch the body to the waiting horses and pull it away from the stall. He wouldn't be able to go back into his stall for a while so I turned round and took him back to where Jesse and Sampson were.

James agreed and I let him in with them, they were the gentlest horses here and would make sure Danny didn't stop eating or drinking in mourning. Jesse moved out of the way and Danny moved around Sampson and put his head down in the corner of the stall, both horses came beside him and put their heads down too, waiting for Danny to be ready to come and eat with them. I gave a half hearted smile and walked away, feeling more lost than ever.


	41. Time Drags On

Three days after Harry's death I was working Tammy in the ring when James came over to me and called for me to come to him. I trotted Tammy over and pulled her up by the gate to the corral.

"Tomorrow we're going to the camp to make sure the Indians have kept their end of the deal, I want you to stay here when we leave."

"You know I'm not going to do that."

"I could order you to stay."

"Do you really think I'd listen?"

"Well I'd hope so, I'd really not like to tie you to the post and leave you there for a couple of days." He half smiled at the thought and looked over to the post.

"What is it about being tied to a post that intrigues everyone so much?" I rolled my eyes. "You know I need to come."

James sighed and looked back at me.

"I really don't think it is a good idea, they could take you again if they are still there."

"You won't let that happen."

"I've already let it happen once." He looked at the ground and I felt bad, but I couldn't let them go out without me.

"That wasn't your fault and no harm was done."

"I mean it this time Miss Chase; I really think you should stay here." His voice became commanding and I realised just how worried he was about this.

"I really can't do that sir."

"Do you realise that if they are still there we will burn that village to the ground along with everyone in it."

I swallowed hard. "Yes I do."

"I want no heroics or I will be forced to have you escorted back to the fort, do you understand me soldier?"

I closed my eyes as I realised there was no leeway around any of this. "Yes sir." I think he had realised just how fragile my state of mind had become over the recent events and didn't want me anywhere where I could rethink what I had chosen to do.

I turned Tammy away from him and asked her for a canter around the school, she was still slightly unsteady to ride but had gotten a lot better and soon would be ready for full time schooling. I was pleased with her progress and in a way wished I could stay here so she didn't have a large gap in her training so early on, but I knew I needed to do this to settle my own mind. I really hoped they had left for their sakes.

It was an early start tomorrow so I retired after supper to prepare.


	42. Fight or Flight?

We rode out early that morning in a large group, around 30 of us headed out the gate heavily armed and ready to raise the village had they ignored the orders. It would take us around 4 and a half to 5 days to reach the village and so the horses were laden with supplies in saddle bags. It was a long ride there but this time we could take a more direct route and save a lot of time and effort on the horse's part.

It was dawn on the 5th day when we came to the open land that would give way to the river and the Indian village; so far there were no signs of life, no smoke trails, prints, noises or horses to be seen. We came up to the brow of the hill and looked down on the camp, it was lifeless, most of the tepees had been pulled down and taken, but some where still there, that confused me as Native Americans would never leave things that could ruin the ecosystem, but then I remembered that they had had to leave in a hurry.

We approached the village gingerly and James motioned with his hand to the soldiers and they split off into groups and entered the camp from all sides. We met up in the middle and dismounted to explore the tents, I walked away from Jesse and approached a tepee, as I went to walk inside I heard a noise and stopped dead. Before I had a chance to move a sound pierced the air that I had hoped never to hear again, it was an Indian war cry, but not just anyone's, it was Little Creeks.

The tepee fell apart in front of me and warriors leapt out of it, all around me the same thing was happening with every tent, there were warriors running from the trees at the top of the hill and horses flying around me. I leapt back away from the men and called for Jesse, I spun around wildly trying to keep out of the way before Jesse came up behind me and skidded to a halt as I grabbed his mane and vaulted on. He reared up as a warrior went to grab me and struck out with his front hooves, catching the man on his shoulder and I steered Jesse away from the men. Spears flew backwards and forwards and arrows whizzed past my ears and a few times I had to duck away from an axe or knife carving up the air in front of me; I ran Jesse through the throngs of battling warriors as gunshots rang across the clearing, the sound echoing across the open range.

Then I saw them, they were unmistakable with Spirit's bright yellow coat glinting in the growing sun light, he was barging his way past the soldiers as they made there way to where James was fending off a spear wielding warrior with his rapier. I put my heels to Jesse's side and wheeled him around to go after them and we were rammed into by something. I looked up to see an Indian warrior on a grey horse that I recognised from the attack on the fort, for a moment he stopped and stared at me before fury took over his emotions and he jabbed a spear at me.

He caught me in my side with the tip but I managed to get my arm in front of it and glance it off, leaving a small wound and a rip in my uniform, I grabbed the shaft and yanked it from his hand and shouted at him in Native American.

"Do what you like but killing me will be the death of you!"

He looked taken aback and I seized his momentary lapse in concentration to give Jesse a command, Jesse bent his head down and nipped at the grey gelding's knees who dropped to the floor to get away from his teeth, once he was kneeling it took Jesse a split second to ram his neck into the horses side and push him to the floor and dislodge the warrior on top. I then ran Jesse on after Little Creek who was bearing down on James, lashing out at any soldier that got in his way.

Jesse barged, kicked, bit and jumped across soldier and Indian alike as we tried our best to make up the distance between us, Jesse let out a shrill neigh and Spirit picked his head up, slowing down to look over at us. Little Creek followed his gaze and roared as he saw me approach them; pulling Spirit to a halt so we could reach them.

"What the hell are you doing here white rider!" He screamed across the space between us in his native tongue.

"Trying to stop this from happening." I flung my arms out, motioning with the spear to the men grappling around us.

"You will never stop this, for too long we have been oppressed, today this ends!"

"What do you expect to achieve! If you slaughter us, they'll just send a bigger force out to you, we are expendable that is why we are out here in the middle of nowhere! The more of us you kill the quicker you doom your people!"

"You always speak like you know everything! Until a few years ago you didn't even know us or our plight!"

"I may not have always been involved but I dived in head first and I learnt quickly and I say to you now all you are doing is bringing death and destruction on your people, they will come and kill everyone, your warriors, your women, your children! Is it worth it over a small bit of land, only this area is owned by the military, you could go anywhere you wanted!"

"We have lived on this land for generations, our ancestors first came here before any of you palefaces were here, this land belongs to us!"

"I know why you want to stay, but for all you know there is better land somewhere else, larger spaces for you and your people, far away from us and our guns where you can live in peace."

"We do not want new land, we want our land! The land we have sewn and grown and lived on our whole lives, it is more important than any one of us and our deaths will be glorious if it means securing it."

"No death is glorious, you are condemning your people over something neither one of us can change. I am not trying to tell you that you are wrong, you are right, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride and accept it!"

"We will never accept it!" He screamed and Spirit threw himself into a rear, striking the air with his hooves and roaring across the battleground.

Just then I saw James out of the corner of my eye and he had seen us, I turned to watch him hammer Sampson through the men towards us.

"Please, just go before one of you dies!"

"Why should you care, you are with them now! You have helped us many times before and I truly believed you were special, maybe I was wrong as I stand before you now as your enemy."

"You will never be my enemy!"

"You made your choice; you could have come with us and helped us."

"Helped what? What could I have done, set the horses free then waited to die with you on the battle ground?!"

"It could have been different if you were with us."

"No, you told me you won't leave; it could never have been different."

He went to speak but the sound of hooves drowned out the words as James and Sampson came barrelling towards us, Sampson flattened his ears and threw his weight back into his haunches and slammed into Spirit's chest as Little Creek lashed out at James. I heard a shout of anger and saw red on Little Creek's axe and blood pouring from James's shoulder.

"Now we are even!" Little Creek laughed at him as Spirit threw himself against Sampson.

"Cally get out of here!" James shouted at me as his rapier clashed against Little Creek's axe as I watched on in horror.

"I'm not leaving you!" I shouted at him as I felt helpless before them.

Before I could say anything else Spirit lost his footing and went crashing to the ground, dragging Sampson with him, James and Little Creek fell off into the dirt and before James could regain his footing Little Creek pulled his bow out from its quiver and fledged an arrow to the string. At the same time James scrabbled up and Sampson rammed into Little Creek, throwing him backwards to give his master time to draw his gun. The horses drew back from each other as the two men faced each other, both their weapons pointing at the other's heart.

"Please don't do this James!"

"I told you to leave, now go!" He shouted back without taking his eyes off Little Creek.

"I'm not leaving, you can't do this."

"I can and I will, I command this army and I command you to leave!"

"I refuse to obey your command sir!" I yelled at him in frustration.

"So be it, then you watch your friend die!"

"You will not get the chance to kill me blue rider!" Little Creek bellowed at him.

"I should have killed you that day at the ravine, if I had known you would cause me so much trouble you would not have gotten home alive, neither you nor that horse!" He screamed, his eyes wild and filled with anger.

"It's too late now! So what is it to be, leave my people in peace or die?"

"I'd rather die than give in to the demands of a savage!"

I slowly dismounted from Jesse, my eyes never leaving the two men and I walked towards them.

"Cally get back!" James ordered.

"What are you doing?!" Little Creek cried at me.

I took a deep breath and walked in between them so both their weapons were aimed at me.

"Enough is enough, can't you both live in peace without trying to murder each other at every chance!"

"Cally, stay out of this!" Came the anguished voice of Little Creek.

"Stand aside soldier!" James's heated voiced cut through me.

"Stop it James! Both of you, you want to kill each other fine, but you go through me first!"

"Don't be a fool Calisa!" James shouted at me.

"Don't try and stop me James, I don't want to see either of you die here today!"

"You do realise that if I aim correctly my bullet will go through you and into him!" His voice was losing its usual calm battle ready demeanour now.

"Go on then! Shoot!" I raised my arms wide and they both fell silent, neither one dropping their weapons.

"Is this really worth it? They were here first and there is enough land on this damned continent for both our people!"

"So now you're siding with them?"

"I'm choosing the lesser of two evils!"

"You're getting involved in a war that has been going on before you were even born!"

"Yes, I know, you've been fighting these guys whilst I was still learning to walk, I get it James, but how long does this have to go on before one side wipes the other out? How many men, women and children have to die before this insanity comes to an end?!"

He stared at me then and his gun arm started to tremble, I looked round to Little Creek whose once determined face was now solemn and grave.

"Please move." James's voice was weak.

"No sir." I replied through gritted teeth.

Ever so slowly, James pushed the safety trigger back on his gun, as it clicked into place Little Creek lowered his bow from me. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and lowered my arms, the fighting had gone quiet and everyone was looking at us.

"James..." I started towards him and he glared at me, I stopped dead and he turned away from me.

"Soldiers, arrest Miss Chase and escort her away from the battleground."

"James!" I reached out to him and felt someone grab my arms, as they pulled me to the side James looked back at Little Creek, without a second thought he cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.


	43. What Happens Next?

Little Creek fell to the ground as the bang echoed out across the battleground and his scream tore through the air. I felt the grip go from my arms and heard a shout as Jesse grabbed the soldier holding me; I ripped my arms from his grasp and ran to Little Creeks side.

Blood was pouring out from a wound in his chest and his body was convulsing underneath my hands. I ripped my shirt and placed the cloth on the wound and pushed down, applying as much pressure as I could to it as he coughed up blood.

"I said arrest her, or are you that incompetent that a horse could beat you?" James ordered again.

Jesse and Spirit stepped in front of me and flattened their ears, the soldiers backed away and James turned red.

"Shoot the damn things if you have to, ARREST HER!"

The soldiers stood fast and stared at the scene before them, they looked up at James like he had gone mad.

"What are you doing?!"

The soldiers didn't reply and instead walked away to their horse and mounted up, someone came up beside me and I heard the quiet voice of Fletcher.

"Let me see."

I took my hand away from the wound, hot blood dripping down my wrist and arm and onto my uniform; Fletcher moved the piece of cloth and looked at it.

"It's missed his vital organs and gone straight through, someone start a fire!"

Around us the soldiers hurried about to start a fire and James stood there, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he took in the situation.

"Soldier! Secure her! Stop this at once!"

"No sir." Fletcher stood up. "She was trying to stop this, it didn't need to happen."

James narrowed his eyes and looked over at me.

"So this is what you want is it?"

"Do you really think this is what I want?!" I spat at him.

"I honestly don't know anymore Miss Chase, but all I see are my soldiers ignoring their Colonel's orders to tend to a native!" He started to laugh, a hysterical laugh cut short but his words. "A native that started this damned war over a god damn horse!"

Little Creek writhed underneath me as the blood gushed out and I replaced the cloth as we waited for the fire to heat up next to us. The other soldiers had come over to see what was going on and the Indians that were still alive had gathered too.

"This is the second time you've tried to kill something just because you couldn't have your own way James! You've gone mad from power and I really thought you had changed, to think I fell in love with a madman."

He was about to step forwards when I spoke to him, he stopped mid-step and stared at me with his mouth open. The soldiers around me gasped and Fletcher took a step back from me.

The fire seemed to extinguish from James's eyes and he dropped to his knees, he stared at Little Creek's body and I thought I saw a tear roll down his cheek.

"I-." He fumbled about for something to say and found nothing so instead went back to staring

"Your hatred for these people is tearing everything apart; all this man wanted was to keep his horses safe! Is that any different from you wanting to protect the people of this country? At least he is trying to do it without merciless killing; you've turned this war into sport, shooting a man whilst he was unarmed!"

I turned away from him without waiting for a reply as Fletcher took his knife from his belt and placed it into the hot ash of the fire. I watched the blade heat up and change colour whilst I held onto Little Creek's trembling frame. He pulled the knife out and I held Little Creek steady and removed the cloth as he pressed the white hot blade against his wound, Little Creek screamed and struggled weakly against me before giving up, Fletcher then replaced the knife in the fire and helped me turn Little Creek over.

Again we cauterized the wound as Little Creek screamed and then I rested his head in my lap as we waited for his breathing to return to normal. His eyes were closed and his body trembled but he was going to survive, I ripped off some more of my shirt and dabbed at his sweat covered brow and he opened his eyes.

"I was right about you, you are special." He croaked, coughing up more blood and tensing his body against the waves of pain. I wiped the blood away from his mouth and one of the soldiers handed me a water pouch, I held it to Little Creek's lips and he drank from it wearily, coughing and trying not to choke as the water went down his dust filled throat.

James was still on his knees, his face blank and his eyes staring at the ground in disbelief.

"You're right."

I looked up as he spoke, his voice quiet and weak and barely audible.

"You're always right, about me, about everything, you're always right." He didn't look up as he spoke but he balled his fists as he started to shake.

"I've spent so long hating everything that I've forgotten how to love and enjoy life, for too long the only thing in my life has been the army. I've forgotten how to live with compassion and emotion; I'm just a trained killer. I haven't known anything else."

"And look where it has brought you, to the brink of self destruction over something as petty as a horse."

"You're the only thing in my life I've ever loved apart from this army, and now I've destroyed that over my own hatred."

"Not quite, he is still alive, you missed your target."

"I'm not that good of a shot."

"You've never missed your target sir, not until you shot him in the shoulder that night." Fletcher said quietly.

"I didn't miss, I didn't want to kill him, I just wanted you to think I did." His voice was trembling now like his body and he slumped into the dirt. "What have I done?"

It was my turn to stare at him now, whatever I said must have shook him to his core; every trace of anger was gone and now replaced by grief.

I looked around me and everyone was staring at him in confusion, the Indian warriors had come forwards and I got up and stepped away from Little Creek, as I moved away I felt a hand grab my sleeve and looked down.

"Don't go." He whispered.

"I'm right here, I promise." I took his hand and squeezed it tight before moving away to let the warriors look him over. I walked over to James and stood before him, he looked up at me like a child who had done something terrible and just stared at me.

"I know it doesn't mean anything, but, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, but not as sorry as I perhaps should be."

He laughed again, still slightly hysterically. "Why are you sorry, for stopping me from slaughtering a load of Indians, why on earth should you be sorry."

"Because I betrayed you."

"No, I betrayed you the moment I let my hatred rule my heart."

I dropped onto the floor in front of me and he reached out a hand to me, I looked at him for a moment before my resolve wavered and I took it.

"What do we do now?" He whispered, I could barely hear his voice above Little Creek's heavy breathing.

"You need to gather your men, take them back to the fort and sort your emotions out before you lead anyone into battle again."

"And them?"

"They," I raised my voice so they could hear me, "are going to leave and find a new place to live in peace away from the military." The warriors nodded at me and stooped to help Little Creek to his feet.

"And you." He turned back to look at me with tired eyes.

"I'm going to go with the Indians and make sure that Little Creek is ok, I need some time to think about what I want to do with my life, so do you."

"Why do you hate them so much?" I asked him as we sat there in the dirt, his gaze wandered across the faces of the warriors and he didn't speak.

"It's because of Topshot, and Jack." The Lieutenant answered for me as James sat there.

"Henry, don't." He looked up at the Lieutenant with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry James, but this has to end. Topshot was his champion racehorse; he took him with him when he joined the military. James used to be the biggest up and coming star in racing before we joined the cavalry, he was the unbeatable jockey and Topshot was the perfect horse. One day we were battling hostiles when they tried to take James out, instead they hit Topshot and killed him, somewhere along the way they also killed Jack Johnson, he was our best friend and we had all joined the army together, only served 5 years, died at 25 years old, James never got over it."

"It's not like that." He said half heartedly.

"James I've been your friend since we were 15, I know exactly what it is like. It's time to let go of the past and move on."

I got up and pulled him up with me, he stood there for a moment unsteadily and I waited for him to focus on me. I shook his hand firmly and smiled at him.

"Goodbye James Walker, I'll see you again when I'm ready." I let go of his hand and he stood there for a moment with his hand outstretched, then he turned to his men.

"Mount up men, and if any of you ever disobey my commands again I'll personally have you flogged!" He shouted half heartedly as Sampson came to his side and waited for him to mount.

"You heard your Colonel men! Mount up!" Shouted the Lieutenant, who came up beside James and waited until he had swung into the saddle.

"I'm sorry Miss Chase." He looked over to me before he mounted Dread and rode after them.

I watched them walk away with a heavy heart and turned back to Little Creek, he was standing up now and clutching his blood stained chest. The bullet hole was just above his heart through the area where his shoulder attached to his rib cage and I sighed, he was the luckiest man alive right now.

He held out his hand towards me and I walked over and took it, smiling I looked up at his pain ridden face.

"Only you could survive being shot twice by the Colonel in a couple of weeks."

His pain eased as he laughed with me, wincing slightly each time he moved. Spirit came over to us with Jesse and we helped Little Creek onto his back, he fell forwards into his mane and I mounted beside him and rode next to him in case he lost his grip. The other warriors put out the fire and we started the long journey to the camp they had made the other side of Spirit's territory.


	44. A New World

A month had passed since James had shot Little Creek; I'd spent my time living with his tribe and Spirit's herd. I'd learnt so much in the past few weeks it was amazing, I'd been accepted into the tribe like one of their own and though a couple of people were still wary of me, most were more than welcoming when they heard that I had saved Little Creek's life.

Little Creek hadn't taken long to recover; he was young and fit and managed to bounce back exceedingly well. Within a couple of weeks he was taking me out on rides around Spirit's territory, introducing me into the herd and showing me hidden places like secret meadows and lakes where we could take the horses swimming. Jesse loved being out here with his family, he grazed with the herd at night and then they came up to the village in the morning to see us.

I got to spend a lot of time with Bailey, he loved showing me his friends and his favourite places to graze. It was blissful out here, even in the growing cold of winter and we hadn't seen or heard anything from the cavalry. Even though I loved it out here, I felt a twinge of pain in my heart every time I thought back to James and what had happened. I often wondered what had happened after they left; how they had dealt with it all.

I wished I could just forget it all and stay out here in the mountains forever, but I knew I would have to face the world sooner or later, not just for closure, but I'd left all my belongings at the fort and still had my uniform and military tack with me.

I missed the soft seat of my western saddle; though I never rode with one now sometimes it was nice to have one for long rides. I still felt torn, even now in the place where I thought I belonged.

One morning I got up and decided to go back, I wanted to finish that part of my life and move on to the next chapter, so I went to find Little Creek and tell him.

"Why do you want to go back?" Little Creek was confused and worried by my announcement.

"I need to sort my life out and choose what I want to do."

"Don't you like it here?"

"I love it here, but I still don't know where I belong."

"You belong here with the horses; you belong here, with me." He looked up at me and my mind seemed to fall to pieces as I registered his words.

He took my hands in his and tried to smile but didn't quite manage it; I couldn't find anything to say so just stood there.

"You don't seem to realise just how special you are."

"You're not the first man to tell me that." I mused half heartedly.

"Why do you want to go back?"

"I need to sort everything out; I still have things at the fort."

"What about him?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't still love him, but I don't think I can ever truly love him like I used to anymore."

Little Creek looked down at the floor at my words and yet again I felt torn in all different directions.

"Are you going to go back to him?" Pain lined his voice and he made me feel uncomfortable under his eyes.

"I don't know, I don't have a plan and I'm not making any choices now."

He let go of my hands and stepped away from me.

"You aren't going alone."

I nodded and followed him out of the tent and into the campsite, he went off to speak to some of the Indians and I went to find Jesse.

The horses were grazing over the brow of a hill in a shady meadow near the river, they were a large herd now and Spirit, Rain, Bailey and Jesse were grazing slightly off from the rest of the herd under an apple tree. I could see Esperanza, Spirit's mother, a chestnut mare I believed to be Tammy's mother, a grey mare who had foaled Danny and Harry and many others I recognised. I felt a pang of sadness when I thought back to Harry and what had happened and bustled over to the horses to distract myself.

I whistled and the horses flung their heads up and whinnied to me, all of them trotting over to greet me. I greeted them in all in turn and they followed me up the crest of the hill and into the village where Little Creek was waiting, when the horses realised what was happening Spirit walked over to him and rested his head on his shoulder, letting him know he was ready to go anywhere with him. Jesse came up to me but a sharp whicker stopped him in his tracks, Bailey came next to him and nudged him with his muzzle before passing him and coming up to me. I looked over at Little Creek and he smiled.

"I think Jesse's time as a rough riding mustang is over, Bailey wants to take his place." I looked back to Bailey with wide eyes and he nickered to me softly.

I stroked his soft nose and then went over to Jesse; his dark brown eyes were sombre and sad. I'd had him for over 10 years now and I had realised he was happy here with his family, I just didn't realise how happy he was.

"It's time for you to be free now baby, you can stay here and look after your daughter in law." He pushed me gently with his head and I cuddled him tight, I knew that what I was doing was right, but it didn't make it any easier to do.

I let go of him and backed away as Bailey leant his head over my shoulder and seemed to be grinning at me in his own horsey way. I smiled and stroked his soft muzzle and walked away, leaving Jesse and Rain on the brow of the hill watching us leave. Once we returned the herd would move on and I would never see them again.

I tacked Bailey up in the McClellan saddle, much to his disgust as I had to return it and couldn't carry it and put Jesse's military bridle and my uniform in a satchel I put over my shoulder, he certainly didn't need it. We then mounted and left the village and rode out into the mountains and canyons that awaited us.

A 10 day ride was behind us and we were almost as exhausted as the horses when the fort came into view, Little Creek went to make camp in the forest and I rode out to the gates, whistles and shouts preceded my arrival and I stood up and waited to be addressed by the sentry.

"Miss Chase, is that you?" Called down a voice from the wall.

"Yeah Rick, it's me."

"And that's…?"

"Yeah, the buckskin stallion Bailey."

"Open the gates, its Miss Chase!" He yelled down and after a few moments the gates swung inward to reveal the fort where I once lived.


	45. The Last Decision to Make

Bailey snorted as he entered, all his memories flooding back and I stroked him gently and asked him on. Once inside the gates they were pushed shut again and I dismounted and led Bailey further in, a whicker came from my left and I recognised it straight away before I even saw the horse.

James came out from near the stable block on Sampson and rode over to me, looking every bit as polished and disciplined as he had always done. He stopped a few yards away and dipped his head to me, I dipped mine back and he addressed me.

"I didn't think you'd ever come back Miss Chase."

"I did need to return your saddle sir."

"That's very kind of you." He half smiled at me before dismounting and walking over to me. "I see you've fully tamed your mustang now."

"Yes sir, I've set Jesse free, Bailey wanted to come with me so here we are."

"You didn't come here alone." It was a statement of fact rather than a question.

"No sir, Little Creek is waiting for me."

He nodded and looked me over in my deer hide clothing before continuing. "Have you lived with them this past month?"

"Yes sir, we've been living with the buckskin's herd for the time being."

"We've made many changes here since you left."

"Sir."

"Wild horses are no longer used here, only horses bred and trained for military services, Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses and Appendixes mainly. We've set all the wild horses free, I'd expect you'll find them back in the herd by the time you get back, all but one."

"Who?"

He motioned to a soldier and he disappeared round to the stables, he came back a few moments later leading the chestnut filly Tammy.

"She was your horse and I thought we'd keep her for you until you returned, if you did, if not she would have been set free eventually."

Tammy perked up when she saw me and Bailey whinnied shrilly at her, the soldier tied her up to a tie post near the gate for me and James asked me to walk with him to put my saddle away.

"We've stopped breaking horses, all the soldiers agreed they preferred your methods, some have even taken to learning to ride bareback; it could come in very handy in a battle situation."

We reached the tack room and I stood Bailey up and untacked him, he shook himself off with relief and James took the saddle from me, I reached into my satchel and handed him the bridle as he was careful not to come within reach of Bailey's teeth. When he came back out he had my western saddle and bridle in his arms and handed it to me, walking as close to me as he dared without upsetting Bailey and stood up in front of me. I put the saddle down against my leg and returned his gaze.

"I want to say again how sorry I am for everything, you made me see the error of my ways and I refuse to ever make that mistake again. There is nothing I can say that can make up for what I did, but, at least know that I truly am sorry."

I nodded, not quite sure my voice would hold for me to reply.

"You are always welcome here; if you ever decided to come back and work for us your position would be waiting for you. What are you going to do now?"

"Honestly, I haven't got a clue; I hadn't planned for a life outside the fort."

"You could always stay." He said quietly, his brown eyes fixed on me. "What you said, that day on the battle ground, about being in love with me, did you mean it?"

"I did."

"And now?"

"And now, I don't know anymore James. I think I'll always love you, but my place isn't here and it isn't with you."

"I expected as much, but I wanted to ask anyway."

He walked away and I picked up my saddle and bridle and followed him over to my quarters. I placed the saddle down against the wall and walked inside; he stayed outside and watched me from the doorway. There wasn't much to get, I found my saddle bags and put my clothes inside and my few personal belongings. I took my uniform out of my satchel and put it down on the bed, I ran my hand across it softly, wishing everything was easier.

I walked back out and put my cowboy hat on my head, noticing James had gone. I heard sounds from his bunk and went over to the door. I peered in and saw the arrow still embedded in the wall and smiled to myself.

"I have something for you," he called out to me from inside, "well, two things actually."

He came back out and handed me two envelopes. One was thick and full and the other was light, I opened the thick one to find money inside of it.

"You were working for us don't forget, every soldier gets his wages, it's not much but we couldn't have you leaving unpaid." I flicked through it with unhidden surprise before putting it into my satchel and looked at the other envelope.

I ran my thumbs under the seal and opened it up to reveal a letter.

' _A Letter of Recommendation,_

_M_

__Signed Colonel James Walker on behalf of the United States of America's Military Forces'_ _

_iss Calisa Chase worked for the US Cavalry under Colonel James Walker in the year of 1895, her work encouraged the military to change the way they worked with horses. The US Army is proud to recommend and support Miss Chase's work in the breaking and training of horses, her skills with horses are paramount to any man, woman or soldier in the United States of America and we offer our name to her services. Anyone choosing to employ her skills should not hesitate to do so._

I looked up from the letter in disbelief, gratitude welled up inside of me and I turned to James.

"I don't know what to say."

"It was the least I could do; your talents befit someone of much higher standing and now you can go on to live your dreams without anyone ever questioning you."

"Oh James, thank you." I cried and flung my arms around his neck before I could stop myself.

He stepped back in surprise before chuckling gently and hugging me back, I held onto him then, all my old feelings flooding back and I had to take a deep breath before I could make myself let go.

"I do wish you would stay, but I'm afraid I know it my heart that no matter how much I could love you, I could never give you the life you wanted and I could never leave the army. High ranking officers are allowed to have families here, but that is no life for anyone, especially not someone who needs to be free."

"I wish I could stay too, but you always believed I had a higher calling and it is time to answer it."

"I'll never forget you." His eyes were full of sadness as he spoke and I could hardly bear to look at him.

"I could never forget you either."

He looked at me for a second more before he turned and walked towards the gates, Bailey had been standing there scowling and scowled even more when I showed him the Western saddle, but he begrudgingly put it on and I stowed the bridle in my saddle bags and fastened them to the cantle. He walked beside me back into the open fronted yard of the fort and the gates swung inwards to let us out. I turned to Bailey to mount up before I heard a loud voice behind me.

"Don't you think you're going away without saying goodbye Miss Chase!" Yelled Fletcher as he ran towards me with his arms outstretched, James backed away and Fletcher flew into me and nearly knocked me over, dragging me into a bear hug and squeezing all the air out of my lungs. Bailey jumped back in surprise and stood there snorting as I was pummelled.

As he slowly crushed all my ribs someone dropped off from the upper tier and joined in the hug.

"We're gonna miss you something frightful Miss Chase!" Came Rick's rough Irish voice in my ear as both of them continued to try and break every single bone in my body with their arms.

Finally they released me and I realised my feet had been off the floor from the combined strength of them; I laughed as they stood before me and offered out my hand.

"Fletcher."

"Cally." He smiled and took my hand before yanking me into him once more for another hug, this time he was gentle and firm. I hugged him back and bit back tears; they both had become good friends to me since I had arrived.

He let me go and I turned to Rick and put out my hand.

"Rick."

"Cally." He shook it firmly, a wide grin on his face. "I think you've gone and busted our Colonel's heart, cheers now we're gonna be eaten alive when you go."

I slapped him gently on the shoulder and smiled back. "I'm sure you'll live, big strong lad like you."

"Good luck to you Cally, I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

"Me too Rick, me too." I turned away from him and put my foot into Bailey's stirrup; he stood still and let me mount as everyone backed away.

James walked back up to me with Tammy's rope in his hand, she followed him quietly and he rested a hand on my leg, passing me the rope and ignoring Bailey's flattened ears.

"Enjoy the rest of your life Miss Chase."

I nodded to him, trying my best to smile as my demeanour threatened to throw itself overboard. I clicked to Bailey and he walked off, leaving the three men standing in the gateway as the rest of the fort looked on. I undid the rope halter that was on Tammy and stowed it into my satchel then touched my legs to Bailey's side and he leapt into a gallop, tossing his head in the wind as his mane flew out from his crest, Tammy reared and kicked off of the ground and galloped beside us. I leant back and twisted round to face the fort, taking my Stetson from my head and raising it high in to the air. Whistles and whoops came from the walls and I smiled before replacing my hat on my head and bending low over Bailey's withers as he plunged left towards the forest with Tammy at his heels.


	46. The End

When I arrived back at the village with Little Creek I was welcomed warmly by its people, they fussed over Tammy and she lapped up the gentle attention. We dismounted and I untacked Bailey and put the saddle in my tent and then came out to watch the sunset with Little Creek and the horses.

"What will you do now?" He asked without turning to look at me, he had his hand resting on Spirit's shoulder and was scratching him gently.

"I don't know, I was thinking of maybe using the money I got and going to Spain to meet the classical riders like my father always wanted me too."

"Spain is so far away."

"I know, but I'd be back before you knew it."

"What will you do about Bailey and Tammy?"

"If Bailey wanted too, he could come with me, as for Tammy I was going to give her to you." He turned to me and smiled.

"I'd like that; I haven't had another horse since I set Rain free. At least it would be warm there, the snow will come soon here."

"I don't mind the snow, I think in some ways I prefer it, it changes everything around us into a magical paradise. The land you know like the back of your hand suddenly becomes somewhere different and it feels like time is frozen in place. I'd definitely miss the snow."

"I won't, you can take it with you when you leave." He laughed and we turned the conversation onto happier things.

As we went to retire I felt cold spots on my arms, I looked down to see small crystal flakes on my deer hide jacket. I grinned widely and looked up to the sky to see the snowflakes tumble down from the darkening sky and lifted my arms out wide.

"I had to open my big mouth." Came Little Creek's voice from behind me.

"Oh it's wonderful!" I cried and twirled around outside my tent. He laughed at me before we bid each other goodnight and slipped in to our tents out of the cold. I sat in the door way for a while watching the snow fall all around me, the flakes were getting larger and larger by the hour and the beautiful patterns they made sent me off into a blissful sleep.

I woke up the next morning and my nose and hands were freezing cold, as I got up and yawned my breath misted the air around me and I blinked harshly as I opened my eyes, why was everything so bright already?

I waited for my eyes to register my surroundings and gasped, outside was a flurry of large flakes of pure white snow that was dropping onto a blanketed landscape; everything was covered with at least 2 feet of snow. I pulled on some warmer clothes and elk hide gloves before I ran outside, my legs sank deep into the snow and I laughed out loud.

I ran through the heavy snow to the crest of the hill to see the herd, their strong coats the only colour across the white land in front of me. Their coats had grown thick and warm over the past few weeks and the snow lay across them like a sheet, their fur being so thick that the warm air lay trapped beneath it and couldn't escape to melt to snow on top of the waterproof layer of coat.

They picked their heads up at my approach and neighed to me, as I walked down the slope I heard a crunch and something cold, hard and wet socked me in the back of my head. I yelled and spun round as the cold snow seeped down my neck and under my clothes to see Little Creek pointing and laughing his head off. I scowled at him and rubbed my hair before grabbing a handful of snow and balling it up, lobbing it as hard as I could.

He ducked and it soared over his head and missed so I grabbed some more and pelted him with it, he stood back up only to receive a mouthful of snow and fell backwards, his arms splayed out and one leg in the air. He hit the snow and rolled over as I ran at him and dumped a large load of snow on his head. He howled with laughter and wriggled out from under the snow and grabbed my leg, pulling me down to join him where he promptly took a large handful of snow and squashed it into my face as I beat at him with my hands to try and get him away.

I shook my head to get rid of the snow and laughed with him as we sat there in the cold. He put his gloved hand over mine and smiled at me.

"It looks like you might be stuck here for a while."

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad to spend the winter here." I smiled back, taking his hand in mine.

He got up and pulled me with him and without giving me a chance he hugged me tight, I let go of his hand and wrapped my arms around him as the snowflakes fell around us, hiding everything from view. I took my head off his shoulder and looked at him; my cheeks flushed pink from the cold. He smiled at me once more and pulled me close.

"You really are so special."

"I'm not the only one." I closed my eyes as he bent down and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back and there we stayed for a while, embracing each other as the snow fell thick around us and the village came to life.

 _It won't be so bad at all._ I thought to myself.

_Fin_


End file.
